"Hey, Daniel, check this out!" Sam Carter said to the archaeologist as he strolled past her, lost in his thoughts and sipping from a large mug of coffee.

Sam was in front of the computer terminal watching the latest MALP transmission. The MALP was displaying images of a city that could have been constructed in ancient Greece or Rome if not for the large, decidedly alien-looking machinery and equipment in the distance.

Startled out of his musings, Daniel stopped, then took the chair beside her and looked at the screen.

"Wow, can you zoom in over there?" Daniel saw on the right side of the screen, a building with massings of slender, fluted columns set behind a double stairway, the front platform carved with a series of low-relief figures and symbols.

On closer view, Daniel noted, surprised, "That looks a lot like the audience hall at Perseopolis, but those carvings are different, some of them might even be Goa'uld. I can't be sure, though, until I see them up close. The other carvings look as if they date back to the late Assyrian empire; the Goa�uld must have transported people from ancient Persia and Greece to this planet! The temple beside the hall is also reminiscent of later Greek styles, but there's some differences in the design of the columns -- I guess, because they weren't around to see later Earth Greek architecture."

Sam just looked at him.

Catching her look of non-comprehension, he explained, "The hall is Persian architecture, which was somewhat inspired by the architecture of the Egyptians and Greeks. Our version is called the Audience Hall of Darius, and Darius was one of the most notable Achaemenian rulers. The Achaemenian period probably began in 549 BC when Cyrus the Great deposed the Median king Astyages. Cyrus created an empire extending from Anatolia to the Persian Gulf, incorporating the former realms of both Assyria and Babylonia; and Darius, who succeeded him, extended the boundaries of the empire further still. Darius I the Great, made Perseopolis the capital of Persia proper, replacing Pasargadae, the burial place of Cyrus the Great. The administration of the Achaemenian Empire was carried on from Susa, Babylon, or Ecbatana."

"Stop!" Sam said, protesting. "Too much information."

Daniel smiled, holding his index finger up in front of his nose in his �I�m not finished,� gesture. "There�s only a little more. The hall was built sometime in 500 B.C. It�s pretty much in ruins now; the city of Perseopolis was nearly destroyed by Alexander the Great. It in what�s now Iran, so it�s definitely off-limits to me and all American archaeologists," he said somewhat plaintively, talking in his usual rapid-fire manner. "This planet has definite Earth origins."

"But it looks like they may have developed their own technology. That machinery over there looks like generators of some sort and has no resemblance to any Goa'uld structures that I've ever seen," Sam said.

Daniel was silent for a moment, then tapped at the screen, "What's that over there?"

The reflection coming off the image of the sky was...odd. Unnatural looking.

Sam fiddled with the MALP's zoom view until it revealed a huge dome covering the city -- stretched from horizon to horizon.

"What's that doing there?" she said quietly, looking at it intently, then sighed, "Damn, not another domed city."

"Yeah, one domed thing after another," Daniel said, grinning at her mischievously. "Sorry," he added, as she rolled her eyes at him.

"It's obviously shielding the atmosphere from something that can't be very good," Sam said.

"Oh -- obviously," Daniel agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "But we have to check this place out, Sam."

"It is impressive, and I'd love to have a look at those generators, but I don't know if General Hammond or Colonel O'Neill are going to like this. Remember the last time we were in a domed city? It wasn't a lot of fun," she reminded him.

In their last experience with a domed city, they had been imprisoned, their memories erased, and put to work, used as slave labor under the city itself.

"Actually, I don't remember...a lot from there, but it wasn't that bad. At least I got away from Jack for a while," Daniel said, smiling slightly. Sam gave him an uncertain look. The joke had an uncomfortable ring to it.

Daniel thought of how much he and Jack had been at odds since the last few missions; first with their argument over the Eurondans, where Jack had been determined to secure that people�s technology, blatantly ignoring the moral implications of his actions, and Daniel�s very vocal protests.

"You don�t give a damn what�s going to happen to them, you want their technology and are taking advantage of their situation," Daniel had said.

"They�re getting something they want, we�re getting everything we want. I don�t have a problem with that." Jack had angrily retorted.

Daniel knew that Jack was military above all, but he had still been stunned by Jack�s refusal to even listen to his reasoning. Jack�s words still rang in Daniel�s ears.

"It�s never over with you, is it? It�s always the same damn thing.... Daniel, shut up! Is that clear enough for you?" Even though Jack had later apologized, the attack still stung.

Daniel felt that he and Jack had just been returning to some semblance of normalcy in their friendship. They had resumed their weekly chess games, Daniel going over to Jack�s place to drink cheap American beer and watch hockey games that Daniel still wasn�t all that interested in, but did anyway, as a �male bonding� kind of thing.

Then, that mission with the Enkarans had to come along. The team had just come off stand-down after that nerve-wracking, near fatal for Daniel, mission. Daniel had felt compelled, no obligated, to well, bend Jack�s orders a little, to save the Gadmeers, an advanced species incredibly, somehow, preserved on an immense space ship. He knew that he couldn�t, no matter what the consequences, just stand back and watch an entire civilization -- 10,000 years of history, be destroyed.

When they had headed back to the gate after the eventual amicable resolution of the conflict between the Gadmeers and the Enkarans, Jack had been quietly seething with anger toward him. So angry that Daniel was surprised Jack hadn't hauled off and punched him.

Since then, the two kept their distance.

That residual tension was something Daniel really wanted to remedy, but had no idea how to go about actually doing so.

Some linguist he was, Daniel thought. He was supposed to be an expert at communication, and though he had tried to explain and justify his actions, nothing he said seemed to make any difference -- Jack only saw the rebellion against his command. Daniel�s rebellion that had very nearly resulted in him being killed on Jack's order, a thought that still made Daniel shudder to even contemplate.

So he tried not to contemplate it.

*****

The briefing turned out to be as tense as Sam and Daniel expected it to be.

"So two days on P4X 727, then?" Daniel asked, looking from General Hammond to Jack.

"I think one day should be sufficient to assess the planet's technology, General," Jack pointedly said to Hammond, but kept his eyes on Daniel.

"I agree. I'll grant you one day - one planetary day - thirty hours," Hammond said. "I'm only giving you the go-ahead because of those generators that Major Carter pointed out, and there may be some other technological aspects that could be useful to us which the MALP was unable to pick up. You will go in and contact the indigenous population. Once you get a better idea of what the generators do, and what kind of technology the planet has to offer, you will return to base."

"Thank you, General," Jack smirked. He hadn't wanted to go at all, but one day was better than the two that Sam and Daniel were haggling for.

"Perhaps we can secure some Goa'uld technology as well. With the influences they left behind, there may be weapons of use to us," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, can't forget about those Goa'uld influences. Carter?" Jack added.

"Well, it's possible, sir. Those old carvings Daniel mentioned earlier are all that I've been able to detect, so I think we'll be safe from any Goa'uld interference. The inhabitants that we've seen at a distance seem peaceful enough."

"Very well, you have a go," Hammond said. "Be prepared to embark at 07:00 tomorrow morning." Hammond stood, gathered his notes and left.

As the team collected their belongings, Jack said, "Daniel? Just a reminder for the mission tomorrow. I am in charge � the guy who has �colonel� written on his jacket, and when I tell you to do something, it's for more than just the pleasure of hearing myself talk."

Daniel stopped, and looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you'll figure it out." With that, Jack left the briefing room.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, following Jack. He wondered if he would ever understand these Tau'ri.

Sam gave Daniel a quick sympathetic look, then followed Jack and Teal'c out of the briefing room.

Daniel stood alone by the table, looked down unseeing at his notes, frowning at Jack's words.

*****

At 06:55 the next day, as they prepared to enter the open and waiting wormhole, Jack continued to protest, "You know how much I hate domed cities. Nothing good ever came out of a domed city. Have you guys forgotten the last one we went to? Didn't you ever see that movie, 'Logan's Run'?"

Jack received a blank look from Teal'c and Sam. Daniel thought for a moment, trying to place it.

"These people all lived in a domed city and on your 30th birthday � you were killed in a sacrificial ritual to make room for the younger ones," Jack told them, exasperated.

"Oh yeah - I remember that one!" Daniel said. "If this planet is anything like that, and seeing as we're all over thirty, we should attract quite a crowd -- some of us more than others, of course."

Daniel smiled, looking everywhere but at Jack, adjusted the straps on his pack and headed for the ramp. "We'll just make sure that we don't participate in any rituals, okay?"

*****

Stumbling through on the other side of the wormhole, SG1 paused to survey their surroundings. The gate was away from the city itself, set back behind an ornate archway.

Heading toward the arch, Jack looked up to the sky at the large dome. It was huge and, he had to admit, structurally impressive. Some planets they visited looked remarkably similar to home, but the dome here, made the place seem all that much more alien, almost eerie. The dome went on as far as the eye could see, encircling the city, sealing it off from the rest of the planet.

Jack was once again reminded of that old science fiction movie. He had never imagined that he would end up living out such movies.

Daniel gazed in the distance at the hall which had attracted him to this planet. Around it lay more earth-inspired architecture, some more Greek than ancient Persian. Whoever built the city had clearly been impressed by both cultures, the architecture of both civilizations blending seamlessly together.

SG1 cautiously walked into the city itself. Entering what appeared to be a main plaza, they realized that the inhabitants were staring at them in open-mouthed amazement.

"So Daniel?" Jack asked. "What�s this?"

"It's an agora - a central marketplace," he answered, while turning to run a finger over some deteriorated incised writing on the column at the entrance to the plaza. "This text is a combination of ancient Persian and Greek... but look at this -- Goa'uld."

Sam looked over Daniel's shoulder. The graceful Persian text and the angular lines of Greek had a scowling sun face imposed over a portion of the letters.

"Korush-nai" or "turn back," Daniel deciphered.

Sam knew the Goa'uld typically placed that symbol on worlds they had wiped out or contaminated.

That was not a good sign, she thought, frowning.

But there was more. "What does this say?" she asked Daniel, pointing to the Goa'uld writing directly beneath the sun symbol.

"Umm -- �those who resist their gods will suffer, and their worlds will end,�" Daniel read, then looked at her, raising his eyebrows.

"Just what I'd expect from a Goa'uld," Jack said, stepping past them to survey the plaza with Teal'c right on his heels.

The plaza was wide, flanked with Doric-styled columns on either side. There was a small marketplace in the center, the audience hall replica loomed majestically in the distance. Toward the end of the plaza was a large temple, similar in design to the Temple of Poseidon with its two interior rows of alternating columns.

Jack�s stance was tense, on alert, and Teal'c held his staff weapon ready.

Sam and Daniel followed. Daniel shot a quick glance back at the eroded Goa'uld warning script. Thanks to that Goa'uld graffiti, he now had a really bad feeling about this place, no matter how fascinating the architecture was.

Once in the plaza, Sam and Daniel, with their fairer coloring, stood out among the swarthy population, as similarly Greek and Persian as their surroundings.

The team�s BDU's were also an extreme oddity amongst the chiton-clad inhabitants.

"Hello?" Daniel said smiling, trying to look as friendly as possible, displaying his usual enthusiasm for all things new -- his earlier misgivings pushed aside.

Jack spotted furtive movement all around the plaza. Troops gathering, he assessed.

Gesturing to Sam and Teal'c to follow his lead, they tightened their grips on their weapons, raising them slightly and widening their stances.

"Uh - Daniel?" Jack said, looking at him questioningly.

"It looks like they're not accustomed to all that many visitors," Daniel said, still attempting to look harmless as the city-dwellers edged around them, looking horrified. "Which is... strange, considering their origins. Usually the Greek are quite sociable, with a great love for strangers," Daniel said, absently pushing up his glasses. "Maybe they're alarmed by our use of the Stargate, and if they've had Goa'uld visitors before, who can blame them. We're probably almost as shocking as the Asgard would be entering Times Square."

"I bet we are," Sam smiled to herself as she pictured Thor and a gang of the little grey aliens strolling around New York.

Jack tensed as he saw a figure peering around one of the columns in the temple, training a weapon on him. He, Teal'c and Sam raised their weapons as a large group of military-type guards rushed out of the temple toward them.

Pouring out of an alleyway to their right were more of the same guards.

The guards, all dressed in the short leather skirts, metal breastplates and helmets of Roman-styled armor pointed their weapons at them. The weapons resembled crossbows, but had a glowing green energy cell at the back end, similar to a staff weapon. As the weapons were cocked, they simultaneously emitted a low whine of power.

Jack considered making a break for it, but a quick glance revealed more guards situated at every cranny and hiding spot; they had probably been alerted by the gate's activation.

"Daniel? Now would be a good time to dig out that peaceful traveler's speech," he said quietly.

Daniel nodded and raising his hands slightly, he turned from side to side slowly, "Um, hello, we mean you no harm, we're peaceful explorers," then tried in Greek, "Chairetismata."

One guard, in command to judge from his more elaborate armor, stepped forward, waving a crop at Daniel, and shouted, "Stasi - paradido, tora!" This was followed by a string of sharp commands.

The man was speaking in a form of Greek, it was a strange dialect, maybe with a touch of Persian thrown in -- he was ordering them to stop and surrender.

Continuing in Greek, Daniel repeated his explorers routine.

The man glared at him angrily. "You have used the forbidden circle to enter our city. Inferior specimens, such as you!"

He strode up to Daniel with an expression of disgust on his face, scowling at Daniel's glasses. He stared at them in fascination, then switched his gaze to Daniel's blue eyes, so different from the his own coal-black ones.

"'Inferior specimens'?" Daniel repeated. The man's accent was thick -- had he understood him correctly?

"You and your tribe are tainting our city! How did you return here? Those such as you are not fit to breathe the very air!" the Greek commander sneered, and shoved at Daniel roughly with the thick handle of the crop -- digging it into his chest.

Jack jumped, moving closer to Daniel. "Hey!" he said, tightening his grip on his weapon.

Instantly, sixty or so of the crossbows swung to point directly at Jack and Daniel.

Daniel took a shaky breath. "Don't, Jack," he cautioned, as Jack tensed beside him. He waited until Jack relaxed somewhat, then continued in Greek, "I don't understand what you mean. We have come from another world, so yes, we are different from you, but we have no intention of harming you or your people. We only wish to offer friendship and share knowledge with you."

"We will share nothing with the likes of you!" the man snarled, suddenly backhanding Daniel hard across the face with the crop's handle, striking his cheekbone and nearly knocking his glasses off.

Daniel stumbled back, his hands instinctively flying up to catch his glasses. Jack quickly positioned himself protectively in front of the younger man.

Teal'c also moved to help his friend, only to be stopped by a metal arrow blasting the ground directly in front of his feet, chips of cobblestone spraying around him.

"What the hell did you say to him?" Jack asked Daniel, his voice raising in alarm.

"Nothing! -- I just tried to explain who we were," Daniel said, keeping his eyes on the commander. "He said that we�re 'inferior specimens.�"

The guards converged on SG-1 from all directions, blocking any chance of escape they might have had, and quickly overwhelmed the team, their numbers far too many to fight.

They separated Jack from the other members of his team, and the team from one another, guards encircling each of them. They were frisked roughly, their weapons yanked out of their hands, their packs, jackets and vests pulled off and rifled, objects of suspicion removed.

The guards stared at Sam with the same look of disgust their leader had given Daniel. They frisked her as thoroughly and impersonally as they did the rest of her team.

The guards searching Teal'c stared curiously at the gold emblem on his forehead and then paused when they felt something unusual on his belly. One of the guards yanked Teal'c's T-shirt up to expose the 'x' of the larval sac on his abdomen.

The guards all jabbered in alarm, shoving Teal'c away, and pointed their weapons at him. The others looked up from their search of Jack, Sam, and Daniel, and pushed them at Teal'c, causing them to stumble against each other. The guards threw SG1�s near-empty packs and jackets back at them, keeping their vests.

All of the guards aimed weapons at them now.

The commander who had spoken with Daniel earlier, issued another string of commands, gesturing toward their gear.

Daniel slowly picked up his pack and jacket and put them back on. The others followed his lead, looking at him questioningly.

"Kinoumai!" the Greek commander snarled and waved towards an arched entranceway a few feet off to their left.

Daniel glanced at the arch and opened his mouth to speak, to try to explain, again. The man screamed out more angry syllables at him, cutting him off and pointing at the archway. When Daniel hesitated, he moved to strike the archeologist again.

Daniel raised his hands in surrender, but met the man's angry glare, standing his ground.

Jack stepped up close to Daniel again, positioning himself in line of the man�s attack, keeping his hands raised.

"What's he saying, damnit?" Jack asked, shifting his eyes from the Greek to Daniel.

"He wants us to go to that entrance or he'll order the guards to shoot us," Daniel answered, speaking quietly and sounding far calmer than he felt, not taking his eyes off the man.

"Well," Jack said, "since those are the choices, I guess we'll take door number one." He eyed the guards warily, and jerking his head for the others to follow, he walked slowly towards the arch, flanked by a group of guards, his hands still raised to forestall another attack.

The others followed similarly, with Teal'c at the end, his progress hampered by the guards circled close around him.

One guard from the group surrounding Jack stepped ahead, pulling a ring of keys off his belt. He opened a number of locks on the inner curve of the arch and pulled a panel open to reveal a small, completely empty room, almost like a vault; its contours conformed to the curve of the arch, and it was made of the same smooth stone.

Jack stopped at the entrance. A gabble of Greek ensued and Jack was pushed roughly inside. Daniel and Sam followed, meeting the same fate. Teal'c neatly sidestepped the guards and joined his teammates.

The panel slammed shut, sealing off any light. They heard the locks turning.

Sam and Daniel unconsciously moved closer to each other in the blackness. The room was so small their shoulders touched.

"So now what?" Jack asked, his voice sounding more than irritated in the darkness. "Daniel, I think your diplomatic skills are getting a little rusty. You had better luck chatting with that Unas buddy of yours -- shit!"

His voice rose as the entire floor dropped away, like a crazy elevator whose floor moved down while the walls stayed in place. They scrambled for handholds, but the walls were smooth, featureless. Their hands skidded on the sides of the shaft.

They dropped. And dropped for a seemingly endless, bumpy ride in the darkness.

The floor came to a rest with a sudden jolt, throwing the team into each other. A sliding panel of rock opened as the floor tipped forward, abruptly pitching them unceremoniously out of the shaft.

Jack, struggling to keep his footing, shouted as he was propelled into a blue-tinged algae-filled puddle. Daniel and Teal'c stumbled behind him. Sam bumped into Daniel's back, twisting her ankle as she stepped down. She looked behind her to see the floor straighten out again and rise up. The rock panel slid shut with a hollow thud, sealing them out.

They found themselves outside, somewhere entirely different now.

They realized that they were at the bottom of a very large, very steep mountainside, and had traveled down it in that shaft. The mountain rose straight up some hundred feet, before leveling off sharply at the top.

Squinting up, Jack could just make out the edge of the dome they had previously been under. In the opposite direction was clear sky. No dome in sight.

The others followed Jack�s gaze to the open sky.

"Everyone okay?" Jack asked as he shook his dripping foot.

Teal�c nodded and Daniel gazed ahead at thick underbrush, gently inspecting his still stinging cheekbone with his fingers to feel a tender, raised welt.

Great, he thought wryly. He was probably going to have nice black eye.

Sam sat down on the ground and said, "I gave my ankle a good wrench." She pulled a face, massaging it for a moment, then stood, testing it. It was a little sore, but she�d be able to walk on it. "Well, this is interesting," she said, glancing around her.

"Yeah, just peachy! So where the hell are we?" Jack said.

They stood in a swampy forest, almost like a jungle. The air was cool and thick with humidity and the ground damp with bright yellow unnatural-looking moss clinging everywhere. It was impossible to see further ahead than a few feet through the thick growth. They could have been on a different planet, so different was this abundance of green from the stark stone of the city.

"Just great, even more trees than we�ve ever seen -- at least I think those are trees," Jack grumbled, glaring at the blackish, twisted trunks.

Jack looked back to where they had been so abruptly dumped, seeing no way to return. The doorway had all but disappeared, the mountain was far too steep to even attempt to climb, and he wasn�t entirely sure that he wanted to go back up there just yet, anyway.

"It looks like the fire swamp," Daniel said softly, almost as if to himself, still looking at the alien foliage.

"What?" Jack jumped, alarmed. "Where do you see fire?"

Daniel looked at him puzzled for a moment, then, "What? Oh � sorry, there�s no fire, this just... reminds me of a scene from a movie...." he trailed off, looking embarrassed. Great, Jack�s got me thinking of movies now too, he thought.

"The Princess Bride," Sam finished for him. "It does look a bit like it, doesn�t it? I can see now, why the Goa�uld had no further interest in this planet."

"I would have expected something a little more scientific from you two," Jack said looking at them impatiently. "Or at least something half-way profound from you, Daniel."

"Sorry, nothing to comes to mind at the moment," Daniel said.

Jack shook his head in frustration, "You sure got us into a mess again, didn�t you, Danny-boy," he said, glaring at the archaeologist for moment, then moved to look at the trees again.

Daniel�s mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. "Jack, this wasn�t my fault," he protested, his tone wounded. "The -- they took one look at us and decided that we were �inferior specimens.� Those were that commander�s exact words. They weren�t too crazy about Teal�c�s symbiote either. So, okay, if they have a problem with glasses, then yeah, this is all my fault � I should have worn contacts!" Daniel shook his head slightly. "What is it with you lately, Jack? Always expecting the worst from me?"

Jack turned around to face him. "Maybe because you�re always running off doing your own thing with no regard for anyone, or anything but--"

"If you weren�t always so eager to blow things up left, right and--"

Teal�c stepped in between the two, interrupting Daniel. " I do not believe Daniel Jackson was at fault, O�Neill. I noted the way they were looking at my tattoo and at Daniel Jackson�s eyeglasses."

"They were looking at me kind of funny too, sir. Like they�d never seen blue eyes or blonde hair before," Sam added.

"Okay, fine, so they�re a little paranoid," Jack said. "Why do you think they reacted like that anyway?"

Sam shrugged, "Maybe they�ve never seen anyone other than their own people or the Goa�uld. Living under a dome would keep you pretty isolated, especially if the gate hasn�t been used in a long time," she speculated.

"Well, I�m more concerned with getting us home, and the only way to do that is up there," Jack said.

"Maybe we should try and find the doorway in that mountain," Sam said.

Daniel kept his eyes averted from Jack, tried to get his temper under control, and turned to inspect the rock, running his hand along the rough surface.

Sam moved beside Daniel, feeling along the rock, but keeping her eyes on him.

"You okay?" she asked him softly. There was a rapidly forming bruise on Daniel�s cheekbone, but she was more concerned about his heated exchange with Jack. She had noticed the hurt in Daniel�s voice even if the Colonel hadn�t.

"I�m fine," Daniel murmured, not looking at her.

Jack and Teal�c joined them after a few minutes, helping to look for the opening.

"If they hadn�t taken most of our stuff, this would be a lot easier," Daniel complained to Sam. He had rummaged through his now near-empty pack, looking for a pencil and piece of paper. He found the pencil, but no paper to do a frottage of the rock; making a tracing of its surface and looking for any unusual cracks or openings. He had to settle for peering at the surface closely and blowing away any dust that may have crept in the cracks, concealing the opening.

The sun had sunk lower in the sky, casting deep shadows on the mountainside before they finally gave up on the fruitless search. The opening may as well have disappeared into the rock.

Finally stepping back, Jack worked the cramps out his fingers and said, frustrated, "Well, since there�s no way back that way, on to plan B." His hand automatically went to rest on his sidearm, only to find its absence. His eyes went to the rest of his teammates to find they were all lacking.

"It was nice of them to take all our weapons too." Jack bent down to slap at his boot and found his throwing knife still securely tucked in it. The guards had missed it in their hasty search. "Do you have your dagger, Teal�c?" he asked him.

Teal�c checked his own boot, "Indeed."

"Carter, Daniel, check through your stuff again, see what we�ve got to work with here," Jack said, removing his own pack and searching through it.

They came up with two medkits, one emergency blanket, one GDO, their rationed MRE�s and a couple of metal specimen containers. They had three canteens filled with water to share among the four of them and a package of water purification tablets.

"Let�s go check out the other side of the mountain, kids," Jack said decisively.

*****

Skidding and slipping on the wet ground as they hiked, they paused partway up the steep slope to survey the landscape as far as they could. Wet as the air was, they had found no open water, no running streams. Trees and oddly shaped vines grew in tortured contortions all around.

The land itself was uneven with valleys, ravines and steep hills everywhere, and didn�t stretch for more than 20 feet in any direction before either sloping sharply upwards, or leading to steep drops. There were areas where the very land itself had been blasted away, scarring the landscape with deep craters. It was almost as if they beheld the scene of a horrific natural disaster or war, despite all the strangely colored, lush vegetation.

Jack and Teal�c stood at a rocky, moss-covered clearing, ahead of Daniel and Sam, speculating on plans of attack � hoping that if they could find another way to get back into the city, maybe they could still get home in one piece.

Daniel stood back from his teammates, watching Jack, still thinking about Jack's earlier harsh comments. Daniel considered himself an honest man -� and he knew he was unflinchingly honest with himself. Jack�s words hurt only because Daniel felt that he had failed with those people. He was the only one who could communicate with them and he blew it. But still, he couldn't help but wonder �- if he and his team had been branded as �inferior beings� from the get-go, there probably wasn�t much he could have said to change their minds.

Well, it was done, he sighed inwardly. Why ever it had happened, it happened, and mulling about it wasn't going to change anything. His fault, or not -- as the only one who could speak Greek among them, he realized that he now had the job of getting the team home. And, making up for his earlier failure. Or so he could hope.

Daniel glanced up, away from his troubled thoughts to see Sam looking around, standing with her back to one of the many vine things that grew tangled all over the place. His eyes widened in surprise when one thick blackish vine moved out from the tangle of plant life -- reaching for her like a tentacle from some low-budget horror film.

"Sam, look out!" he yelled, running to her. She looked at him, startled.

"The vine!" Daniel shouted again, reaching her and pulling her away, but the tip of the tentacle had already latched onto her forearm, just above the wrist.

Jack and Teal�c glanced in their direction at Daniel�s shout to see him grabbing at something on Sam.

She yelped in pain, jumping back, trying to pull it off, her weakened ankle causing her to stumble. Sam looked at the thing attached to her arm, shocked to see that the underside of the tentacle was layered with razor sharp ridges that were slicing easily and raggedly through the material of her jacket to her skin, digging into her flesh. The top side of the tentacle was smooth, like the skin of a reptile.

Daniel grabbed at the smooth side of the tentacle, tugging at it as she pulled her arm back with all her strength.

The tentacle lost its grip on Sam when the cuff of her jacket tore away, making her lose her balance and fall to one knee. The tentacle eagerly reached for her again but Daniel hauled on her arm, quickly pulling her up, positioning himself between the tentacle and its intended victim.

The tentacle immediately caught Daniel�s left upper arm, curling tightly around it, holding him as four others flew out from the underbrush with startling speed. They were nearly as thick as his wrist -- incredibly, alarmingly strong. One wrapped over his right shoulder and curled around his chest, tearing its way to his other side, pulling him back. The others wrapped around his ribs, digging tightly and slicing into his body, pinning his right arm down and pushing it back under his pack, inadvertently shielding it from the sharp ridges.

Daniel screamed as the tentacle draped over his right shoulder tore deeply into the exposed skin of his lower neck and collarbone. He fought desperately against the ferocious grip on his left arm and managed to get his hand high enough to reach underneath the tentacle ripping at his neck and pull it away before it cut his throat.

He cried out again as his fingers closed over the sharp ridges and they impaled his hand. Blood dripped through his fingers and down his arm.

His jacket was rapidly turning more red than green.

"Oh God, get it off! Get it off!" Daniel screamed in agony, struggling frantically against the lethal embrace as Jack and Teal�c raced to him.

Sam picked up a sharp-looking rock from the ground and jabbed it into one of the tentacles. Jack pulled his knife from his boot, Teal�c already had his dagger out and they both sawed savagely at the things.

"Dammit!" Jack cursed furiously. "Shit -- these bastards are tough! Hang in there, Danny!"

Daniel was still fighting to free himself and straining against the pull into the maw of those things -- his cries coming in short, agonized gasps now. The tentacles tightened around his middle, constricting his ribs -- making it hard for him to breathe. His strength was rapidly giving out.

Teal�c cut through the saw-edged tentacle Daniel was desperately pulling away from his jugular and the other tentacles released their grip so quickly that he pitched forward face-down onto the ground.

Jack and Teal�c grabbed Daniel and half-dragged, half-carried him over to the clearing. They laid Daniel carefully on the mossy ground.

Jack cursed under his breath to see that Daniel had a piece of the severed tentacle still embedded in his bloody fingers, the ridges worked deeply into his hand.

Jack carefully pried the thing off, wincing in sympathy as bits of Daniel�s skin pulled off along with the ridges dug deeply into his fingers. Jack threw the tentacle to the ground, grimacing as he wiped off fluid onto his pants.

Jack eased Daniel onto his right side to strip away his pack and blood-soaked jacket. Daniel was moaning, his head dropping forward, nearly unconscious now � and thank God for small favors, Jack thought. He pulled off the pack, seeing the thick canvas torn to pieces, cut nearly all the way through, its contents spilling out around them.

God -- that could have been Daniel�s back, he thought, looking at the torn canvas, realizing the thick material had saved Daniel from worse injury. He cursed again under his breath, his hands shaking, as he said under his breath, "Jesus, Daniel, what did you get into?"

The left sleeve of the jacket was torn off and hanging around Daniel�s wrist. The rest of the jacket was in bloody shreds. Jack carefully pulled it off, easing the detached sleeve around Daniel�s mangled hand. He laid Daniel gently down on his back again.

Sam quickly came to Daniel�s other side and tore away what was left of his T-shirt, hanging off him in bloody strips of shredded black material. Her hands were shaking as badly as Jack�s. She had hastily wrapped a bandana around her injured forearm.

"He pulled me away from that thing, only to get caught in it himself," Sam said shakily. "He saved me... oh God," she said, paling, as she took in the damage inflicted on Daniel�s body.

The right side of Daniel�s lower neck, the notch at the joint of his collarbone, his sternum and the upper ribs on his left side were one continuous, deep, ragged gash. The deadly ridges had missed slicing through his jugular by less than an inch.

Sam could see a gleam of bone from the within the cut over his collarbone. His lower ribs were crisscrossed with other deep wounds; Daniel�s flesh torn brutally open, spilling copious amounts of blood. His upper left arm was sliced deeply all the way around from the tentacle�s grip and his left hand a mess of blood and torn skin.

Sam looked at the discarded, severed tentacle, and watched as a clear, whitish fluid formed on the blood-stained blades and dripped off the sharp edges. Dammit, just when things couldn�t get any worse.

"Sir," she said to Jack, "These things might be venomous, we have to clean the wounds thoroughly." She looked at Daniel�s injuries again and said briefly, "I wish we had some more water handy."

Jack met her eyes, his face creased with concern, and nodded.

Teal�c stood close by his teammates, watching with stony silence, and keeping an eye out for more of the deadly creatures.

Sam dug around what was left of Daniel�s pack and through her own, grabbing the medkits, and dumping out bottles of antiseptic, gauze pads and cloths. She poured the antiseptic onto the cloths, and then pausing to touch Daniel�s semi-conscious face, she said, "Daniel, I�m sorry, this is really going to hurt, but we have to clean these wounds, okay?"

Sam couldn�t tell if he had heard her or not -- his eyes were half-closed and he was still moaning softly under his breath. She poured a little of the antiseptic directly onto his torn chest, and daubed at the wound with the soaked cloth.

Daniel instantly arched away from her touch, crying out.

"Sorry," she said, wincing, and cautiously poured more on him.

Daniel screamed this time and tried to push her away. His legs thrashed around on the ground as he weakly fought to get away from this new source of pain.

"Colonel, Teal�c hold him down!" she shouted over Daniel�s cries.

Jack instantly grabbed hold of Daniel�s shoulders, careful not to touch his wounds, and Teal�c held firmly onto his thighs, preventing him from arching his back and twisting away from her.

Sam shakily continued to clean the gashes as Daniel struggled futilely, gasping and sobbing, delirious now from the pain. She allowed the wounds to bleed freely as she cleaned them. The flow of blood, along with the antiseptic would help to clean out some of the venom.

"Oh God, Daniel, I�m sorry, I�m sorry." Sam kept repeating the words like a mantra as she worked. She hated having to hurt him like this -- she didn�t even know if she was helping him or merely killing him more quickly.

"Dammit, Carter! Quit apologizing to him and finish it!" Jack snapped, straining to hold the archaeologist still without hurting him.

"Sorry!" Sam said again, her voice shaky, not even fully aware that she was speaking aloud.

Finally it was done. Getting Jack to lift Daniel to a near-sitting position, she bandaged her injured friend as tightly as she dared.

Jack removed his own jacket and wrapped it around Daniel. He gently leaned Daniel back against his chest, holding him, trying to offer a little comfort.

Daniel was still moaning, shaking violently and rolling his head back and forth deliriously against Jack�s chest. Sam took hold of Daniel�s wrist, then carefully bandaged the damaged hand as best as she could.

She prepared a syringe of morphine from the kit, then hesitated, not sure if she should give it to him. If his system had been poisoned... she wasn�t sure if it would do him more harm than good. Morphine had a number of side effects, including respiratory depression.

God, I don�t know what to do, she thought, trying not to give in to panic . She took a shaky breath, holding the syringe in her hand, trying to recall her basic medical training. Not that basic military medical training covered this kind of injury.

Jack watched Sam take the syringe out and just stop, her hand shaking, her face stricken. He tightened his grip on the wildly trembling Daniel.

"Give it to him," Jack said, his voice harsh. "The shock and pain will kill him quickly enough if we don�t do anything."

Sam nodded, relieved to have the decision taken out of her hands, and injected the morphine.

"How many times do I have to tell you to leave the hero stuff to us military types, Danny?" Jack whispered softly. He held his friend, whispering soothingly until the drug took effect and Daniel�s trembling gradually subsided. He gently laid Daniel on the ground, tucking his jacket around him. Sam pulled out the emergency blanket and laid it over him.

"Teal�c, keep an eye on him," Jack said, standing.

Jack took a deep breath, rubbed his hand over his face and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to clear his racing thoughts � trying not to think too much at this point. Sam was still very pale.

"Okay, Carter, your turn," Jack said to her after a moment.

Sam looked at him confused, then remembered her own gashed arm. Daniel�s injuries had caused her to forget all about it, but now it came back to her with a vengeance, burning terribly and throbbing in time with her accelerated heartbeat.

Jack gently unwound the blood-soaked bandana, hissing in sympathy at the raw wound. He poured the antiseptic freely over it. Sam yelled loudly, surprised at how much it hurt and it burned like acid on her skin -- she guessed that the antiseptic caused some kind of reaction with the venom in the wound.

Jack kept an iron grip on her hand and thoroughly washed the cut. Sam�s stomach clenched in nausea and she thought wildly of how much this must have hurt Daniel.

Jack quickly bandaged her arm, glancing at Daniel when he was done, probably thinking the same thing, Sam figured.

"You all right? You need to sit down for a minute?"

Sam took a deep breath, still feeling queasy and then said a little shakily, "No, I�m okay, it�s not that bad."

Daniel murmured softly, wakened by Sam�s cry of pain. He called out weakly, "Sam?"

They quickly went to him. Sam crouched down beside Daniel, gently stroking his forehead, trying to reassure him.

Jack said, surprised, "Shouldn�t that stuff have knocked him out a little longer than that?"

She nodded, looking up at him, her brow creased with fear.

"You...okay? Heard..." Daniel whispered painfully.

"I�m fine, how are you doing?" Sam asked. Daniel was still shaking, his teeth chattering slightly. She felt his pulse, worried to find that it was racing, shallow and erratic.

"Cold," Daniel whispered, closing his eyes. Then his face turned an alarming shade of green. "Oh, God--" he choked out through tightly clenched teeth and rolled clumsily halfway onto his stomach.

Propping himself on his good arm, Daniel gave in helplessly to a violent bout of vomiting that felt as if his insides were going to come up along with everything else he had in his system. As his chest and ribs contracted with the force of his heaving, everything greyed out in a haze of excruciating pain that sent tears streaming down his face. He pushed himself away, collapsing onto his back, gasping and struggling to catch his breath.

"Jesus, Danny," Jack said shakily, laying a hand on Daniel�s trembling shoulder.

"You guys � go ahead, leave... me here," he managed, then coughed weakly.

"No," Jack said simply and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently wiped Daniel�s mouth.

"Jack. . . listen--"

"No, Daniel, we are not leaving you, and that�s final."

"Jack please," Daniel whispered urgently. "Those... things are everywhere, don�t want... to be responsible for making you. . . don�t need me to. . . ."

Jack moved his hand to the side of Daniel�s face, gently thumbing a tear away from his dirt-smudged, bruised cheek. "Responsible for what, Danny? You saved Carter back there, and we are not leaving you � you got that? We all stay or we all go, that�s it."

"No...." Daniel�s voice trailed off, still trying to protest, but exhaustion won out and his eyes slowly closed.

Jack tucked the blanket around Daniel again. Standing again, he sighed and said, "Let�s make camp here tonight. It�s starting to get dark anyway and it�ll give Daniel and Carter a chance to rest. Teal�c, let�s look around for something to make a fire -- Carter, stay put with Daniel."

Sam nodded in agreement. She rummaged through her pack and pulled out the metal specimen container. She gingerly picked up the scrap of tentacle off the ground with a stick and shoved it into the container, trying not to notice Daniel�s blood streaking on the sides. If they somehow managed to get back to the SGC, they would have to analyze the substance coating those ridges.

A reflection danced into her line of vision. Sam followed it to spot Daniel�s glasses lying on the ground, forgotten in the struggle. She went over and rescued them, holding the frames in her hand for a moment before tucking them in her pocket. She ran a hand through her hair, taking a shaky, deep breath. Checking to see that Daniel was still sleeping, she then proceeded to gather rocks to make a circle for the fire.

*****

Silently searching for firewood with Teal�c, Jack felt the weight of their situation sink into him, both physically and emotionally. His neck muscles twinged and Daniel�s pain-wracked screams were still echoing in his throbbing head. His earlier anger with Daniel was futile, stupid. In the blink of an eye, your whole world can change. He knew that far too well, so how could he have forgotten?

He knew he was still upset with Daniel over that last mission with the Enkarans, unable to let get go of the anger, even though Daniel had turned out to be right in the end. As he usually was, Jack thought wryly. Daniel�s typical, impulsive, save-the-world, let's offer a Jack a different solution, mentality had nearly resulted in Jack having to blow Daniel up along with that ship. That was why he was still so goddamned pissed at Daniel.

Nearly forcing Jack to kill his own best friend. Jack really didn�t know if he would have been able to live with that. Thank God he didn�t have to know.

He did know his friend well enough to realize that, on top of his injuries, Daniel was mentally beating himself up for his �failure� with those dome dwellers. Thanks to what Jack had said to him. That was why Daniel wanted them to leave him behind, offering himself up for sacrifice as usual.

Way to go, O�Neill.

Coming back to their camp, Jack and Teal�c noted that Sam had cleared an area for the fire. She had moved Daniel close to it and wrapped the blanket around him. He lay on his back, good arm cradling his wounded torso, sleeping fitfully, still shivering under the cover. Sam had tucked herself beside him, cuddling up against his side, trying to keep him warm against the shock.

"How�s he doing?" Jack asked, crouching down to look at Daniel as Teal�c arranged the twigs and small logs in the rock-enclosed area and prepared the fire.

"Not so good," Sam answered. "At least he�s sleeping now."

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked her. "Any effects from the venom or anything?"

"Nothing too serious. My arm was hurting, but I took some acetaminophen for it, which helped a bit. I�m also feeling slightly nauseated, which must be a side-effect, judging by how sick Daniel was."

Jack nodded as she continued, "Sir, I wonder if this �forest� is irradiated. It would make sense with the people in the city living under a dome. This landscape and vegetation don�t look very natural. Those vines, or tentacles or whatever they are, seem more like animals than plants. Maybe even carnivorous. The land itself looks like it has been bombed -- I wonder if the Goa�uld attacked it, using nuclear weapons or biological warfare."

Jack nodded. "Wonderful place isn�t it?" he said, the sarcasm all too clear in his voice. Glancing up at said vegetation, he suppressed another snide comment. Great, radiation on top of everything else.

Teal�c silently built up the fire, his expression unreadable as usual.

They settled in for the night, Jack cooked up some of the MRE�s. Sam was able to eat only a little, her stomach rebelling at the food.

Daniel stirred beside her, waking. Sam jumped as he groaned softy.

"Hey, Daniel," she said, touching his face lightly.

"Where...?" he whispered, confusion on his face, his eyes shifting to the campfire and now darkened sky.

"We�re still in the same place -- we�re staying here for the night. Do you think you can manage a little water?"

His eyes moved to hers. At his short nod, Sam picked up the canteen and carefully lifted Daniel�s head. She tipped the canteen to his mouth, giving him just a small sip.

Daniel swallowed -- half-choking, half-coughing. He squeezed his eyes shut, groaning low in his throat. His chest and ribs flared in agony, the small amount of water he had managed to swallow threatening to come up again.

"Daniel?" Sam said, her voice raising in concern, as Jack and Teal�c looked over at them.

She watched Daniel�s face carefully, worried he might get sick again, but let out a small sigh of relief when she saw his features relax once more. "He�s asleep again," she told Jack and Teal�c, and re-tucked the blanket close around him.

The three remained uncharacteristically quiet, listening to the unfamiliar rustles and insect chirps around them, and to Daniel�s ragged, painful breathing. The tentacle-things rustled around, sounding as if they were circling them in the underbrush.

*****

They rose with the light, packing up, readying themselves to get moving again.

Daniel woke with a start, and blearily watched as his teammates gathered up their things around him. The pain all came back in a big hurry as, groaning, he struggled to a sitting position. The gashes felt tight, and his lungs constricted, making him hunch over. He cradled his throbbing, damaged hand against his chest.

Sam turned, hearing him. "Daniel -- hey, how are you doing?" She quickly went over to him, crouching to his eye level.

He gave her a small, one-shouldered shrug, his face far too pale and pinched with pain.

Jack and Teal�c stopped to observe him too. "Teal�c, do you think you can carry him for a while?" Jack said in a soft voice. "I don�t think we can use the stretcher with all these damn hills."

Teal�c started to answer, but Daniel broke in, a note of impatience to his voice, "I... I can walk, nothing wrong with my legs."

"Are you sure?" Sam replied. "You�re not looking so good. Let me give you another shot for the pain." She dug out another syringe of morphine.

"Isn�t that just going to knock me out again?" Daniel asked, still hunched over, the colonel�s jacket draped around him.

"In a while, yeah, it will. Don�t worry about that, we�re only planning to hike for a little while, and then stop for a break, anyway." Not giving him any further chance to object, Sam pulled the jacket away from his right shoulder and injected the medication into the deltoid muscle of his upper arm.

Sam then helped him put the jacket on. He bit his lower lip, trying to stifle a cry, the motion sheer torture. She zipped the jacket all the way, trying to conserve as much of his body heat as possible, and, fashioning a sling out of an extra pressure bandage, tied his injured left hand and arm against his chest.

Jack and Teal�c finished gathering their things while Sam kept a close eye on Daniel�s respiration and gave the morphine a chance to kick in.

Teal�c folded the blanket, placed it in his pack and tucked one of the canteens into the side vent. After putting the pack on, he went to Daniel, reached his arm around him and helped him stand. Leaning heavily on Teal�c, Daniel shivered and squeezed his eyes shut as he turned another sickly shade of green.

"Breathe through your mouth, slowly," Sam told him.

"I am able to carry you if it is too much, Daniel Jackson," Teal�c added, looking at Daniel, his normally impassive face creased with concern.

Daniel shook his head stubbornly, eyes still closed, following Sam�s instructions. He breathed as deeply as his injured ribs and constricted lungs allowed. After what felt like an eternity, the nausea slowly receded.

Opening his eyes again to see his team staring at him, each with identical looks of concern on their faces, Daniel tried to give them a reassuring smile and fumbled at his pockets, looking for his glasses.

Sam pulled them out of her own pocket and handed them to him.

Daniel took them with a wildly shaking hand and put them on crookedly. "Thank you."

You ready?" Jack asked him in a surprisingly gentle voice.

Taking a breath, Daniel nodded, and in a shaky voice, he said, "Okay, let�s hit the road, Jack."

"And don�t�cha come back no more, no more, no more, no more," Jack sang in an off-key voice, as he started heading toward the underbrush, glancing over his shoulder to see that his teammates were following.

Teal�c stared after the colonel, puzzled by Jack�s words. He reached out a large finger to straighten out Daniel�s glasses, then pulled the younger man�s right arm carefully over his shoulder and took a cautious step.

Daniel winced at the deep stab of pain at the gash on his collarbone, and steeled himself for the walk ahead.

*****

They moved out, climbing upwards, Daniel�s good right arm still draped over Teal�c�s shoulder. The going was slow, the ground slick and hard to climb. The three kept a very watchful eye out for the vine-tentacles, carefully avoiding numerous groups of them as the �plants� eagerly reached out, sensing their presence as they passed.

Daniel kept his eyes on the ground, concentrating solely on putting one foot in front of the other. This was proving to be difficult as his vision swam, doubling in and out of focus, causing him to see twice as many feet on the ground as there should be. This was a novelty he wanted to keep from his teammates. He was already slowing them down enough as it was; if Teal�c had to carry him, it would make their progress even slower and more difficult, not to mention put Teal�c at greater risk from the dangerous plant life.

Daniel pulled his attention away from the blurry ground. Okay, that�s not working anymore, he thought. It was only making him even dizzier and all those feet made it hard to find the ground. He fought hard to stay upright through the constant nausea, and, despite the morphine, pain jabbed his chest and ribs with every step.

Think of something to take your mind off it, he told himself. Something easy. Latin verbs, that�ll work. Starting with the A�s -- accid�, accidere; accipi�, accipere. . . His lips silently formed the words as he stumbled along beside Teal�c.

Jack relieved Teal�c of his position as Daniel�s crutch and supported his wounded friend as they continued to hike. The sun was shining lower through the thick underbrush and Daniel had gone through all the verbs, and was half-way through conjugating them past, present and perfect when Sam took a turn, able to support Daniel as he walked slowly, but steadily, surprising all of them with his stamina.

They neared the top of a steep incline, hiking on a narrow stretch of ground with deep ravines on either side of them, overgrown with the twisted trees and the dangerous vegetation. Jack and Teal�c were about five feet ahead of their teammates, off to their left, when suddenly the ground they were one minute standing on, just gave away.

Jack skidded down the side, shouting in surprise and grabbing frantically at the treacherous ground. Teal�c slipped just above him, slowing his own descent as he scrabbled at the rocks and moss, the ground rapidly disappearing under his grip.

The force of Teal�c�s struggling showered wet dirt and moss onto Jack. He clung to the edge, cursing, and ducking his head as the debris rained down on his face, getting into his eyes. Jack desperately grabbed for one handhold after another, his arms shaking with effort as the dirt kept crumbling away under his fingers. His boots skidded and slid, finding no purchase.

Teal�c reached an arm down to help Jack, while straining to find a more secure handhold with his other hand. Tentacles waved over Teal�c�s head, dangerously close to his face. As he jerked his head away, his grip loosened, causing him to slide further down, his fingers furrowing thin tunnels in the terrain.

Sam let go of Daniel and rushed over, trying to get to Teal'c. She reached down and her fingers had almost closed over Teal�c�s when the ground gave way completely under him and Jack, plunging them deep into the thick tangles of vines, moss and gnarled branches, nearly taking her with them.

"Colonel! Teal'c!" Sam cried, scrambling backward, trying desperately to track where they might have fallen. The vegetation had closed up again as though it had swallowed them whole. It was impossible to see how far they had fallen. "No!" she screamed.

Daniel stumbled over, half-crouching, half-falling beside her, peering down the drop and calling breathlessly, "Jack! Teal'c!"

The only answer was the rustling and chirping of the alien landscape around them. A tentacle swiped over Sam's head, nearly catching in her hair. More waved around, moving in, sensing their presence. She jumped back with a shout.

"Come on, Daniel. We better get back." Sam took hold of his arm to help him up.

Daniel hesitated for a moment, his eyes wide, still searching for any sign of Jack and Teal'c. "Damn," he swore, then allowed Sam to help him back.

*****

Their descent seemed endless � branches and tentacles tore into them as they crashed further and further down. Jack landed face down in a heap onto a pile of brightly colored moss � his breath whooshing out him as he landed, hard. He rolled onto his back, gasping, trying to pull some air into his shocked lungs.

Teal�c appeared seconds later, narrowly missing landing on top of him with a solid thump. After a moment, Teal'c was peering into Jack�s face, concerned. "O�Neill? Are you injured?" Teal�c�s own face was scratched and bloody.

Jack sat up shakily, wincing from the various scrapes and bruises that seemed to make up his entire being. "Oh, no, I�m just wonderful!" he managed to gasp, still trying to catch his breath. His bare arms were scratched and bleeding in too many places to count. He reached up to wipe a trickle of blood running down his face; his brow had been torn open from one of those tentacles. He was surprised at how much the cuts burned.

Teal�c offered him a hand up, and standing, Jack visually tracked the distance they had fallen. All he could see was a mile of tangle after tangle of vines and underbrush all the way up. Holy crap! They had crashed through that? It was amazing they weren�t in shreds from those tentacle things.

"Are Daniel and Carter still up there?� he asked.

"I believe so. I heard them calling to us as we descended."

"Well, then, I guess we start climbing," Jack sighed. Could this day possibly get any worse?

*****

"Dammit to hell!" Sam cursed, trying to think what to do now. She knew there was no way to go down after Jack and Teal'c. The drop was far too steep without ropes and they'd be cut to ribbons by the tentacles. Besides, Daniel was barely in any condition to walk, let alone able to navigate steep hillsides.

She was also making the assumption that Jack and Teal'c had even survived their fall.

Daniel stared at the spot where Jack and Teal�c had disappeared. "Well, this place just keeps getting more exciting all the time," he said, struggling for Jack's casual air in such instances, but his shaky voice all too clearly betrayed his shock and fear.

Sam looked over at Daniel to see him weaving alarmingly on his feet. She grabbed his arm, pulling it over her shoulder.

The tentacles rustled restlessly through the trees.

"Let's work our way up to the top," Sam said. "The ground's too unstable and there's way too many of those things lurking around for my liking." Daniel nodded in agreement.

About ten feet from the top, Sam felt the ground crumble away beneath her foot. Her heart dropped in fear as she stumbled, feet skidding and slipping; her efforts to regain her footing hindered by Daniel�s weight. Daniel cried out as he banged against her, hitting his torn ribs and jarring his hand. He lost his already tenuous balance and fell painfully to his knees, yanking Sam�s body sideways.

Both of them began to slide down.

Sam dug her knees and the toes of her boots into the loose ground, reached out with her free hand to grasp at a rock jutting out of the dirt. She gripped the rock, digging her feet into the slipping dirt, wincing at the twinge in her twisted ankle and tried desperately to hang onto Daniel as he kept sliding. He gasped at the pull on his injuries and struggled to get his feet back under him.

Sam quickly moved her grip to the back of Daniel�s jacket. She pulled and climbed her way up, nearly dragging Daniel along behind her. Daniel half-crawled after her, using his good arm for extra leverage.

Finally reaching the top, they staggered to a clearing. The ground was covered in the springy yellow moss, large rocks crusted with bluish algae poked out of the ground. The two made sure to get as far away from the trees as possible and collapsed to the ground, breathing hard, propping their backs against one of the large boulders. They just sat for a moment, recovering.

Sam took a few deep breaths, trying to get her heartbeat to return to some semblance of normalcy. God, that was too close, she thought, slumping further back against the rock.

Closing her eyes briefly and taking a few more deep breaths to get her nerves somewhat back under control, Sam glanced over at Daniel, and was frightened to see that his face, etched with pain, had a sickly greyish cast, his breath coming in short pants.

She moved to kneel front of him and felt at his neck for his pulse, finding it racing and fluttering shallowly, erratically. His skin was cool and clammy, despite their activity. She unzipped his jacket, checking his bandages: blood was starting to seep through the layers of bandage around his ribs and in the center of his chest. She zipped the jacket again as he shivered from the combination of pain, shock, blood loss and the cool, damp air making contact with his skin.

"I'm sure Jack and... Teal�c are... okay, Sam," Daniel said. "Th-they'll... make their way...back up... find us." They have to be okay, he told himself, or we�re never going to get out of here.

Something rustled noisily at the trees and then moved out to their line of vision. Sam and Daniel looked in the direction of the sound and finally had a good look at a relative of Daniel�s attacker. The thing was actually moving about on it own, five razor-sharp tentacles searched restlessly, hungrily, atop a sturdy tubular-shaped body which split off into four sections at the bottom, almost like feet. The tube contracted muscularly to make the thing lurch in a grotesque, side-to-side, near walking motion.

"It almost looks like a hydra," Sam said. Daniel just stared at the strange creature, his eyes widening, mouth dropping open in shock, as he shuddered. He had nearly been cut in half by that?

The thing was nearly five feet high, not counting the tentacles. And the fact that there were possibly hundreds of those things out there did little to ease their minds.

"Let's stay here for a while and rest. Those creatures don't seem to venture very far out from the trees," Sam said, glancing around them. "Let's wait and see if the Colonel and Teal'c can make it back up to us. You're not looking good at all, Daniel," she added, her brow creasing in a worried frown.

Daniel glanced at her sweat-dampened, flushed face. "You�re not looking... so good... either."

Sam pulled a wry face, and taking out the one canteen they had from the side of her pack, she uncapped it and handed it to him. They had very little water, and surprisingly, in this horrific jungle they still hadn't found any streams. Daniel took a few small sips, his stomach immediately recoiling, and handed the canteen back to her. She noticed him paling even more.

Sam leaned back against the rock, stretching out her legs and pulling at Daniel, she said, "Come here and lie down or you're going to get sick again."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but she carefully pulled him down, propping his upper back and head on her legs. The blanket, along with the other medkit, had disappeared along with Jack and Teal'c.

"Don't you start getting all tough guy on me now, Daniel," she said, putting an arm carefully over his shoulder, cuddling him as close against her as she could without hurting him. She didn't want to admit that she needed the contact too. That she was feeling pretty damned scared and helpless.

"Sam?" Daniel whispered a long, silent moment. "If I can't walk anymore, you keep going, you'll find Jack and Teal'c."

"Daniel, will you stop talking about being left behind? It's not going to happen, and don't you dare leave me alone in this godforsaken place!"

"But-"

Daniel started to reply, then groaned as a wave a pain crashed over him. "Okay," he whispered when he regained his voice, closed his eyes, and fell asleep an instant later.

Listening to the sound of Daniel's ragged breaths, Sam realized that she was pretty tired herself - her arm was aching and throbbing slightly in time with her heartbeat. Mild waves of nausea still plagued her and to top it off she had a splitting headache. Shifting her back to a more comfortable position against the boulder, she stroked Daniel's hair, staring out at the endless underbrush, wondering just how the hell they were going to get out of this one.

*****

Jack and Teal'c thrashed their way through the thick vegetation.

"Teal'c, the next time Carter and Daniel want to go look at domed cities, remind me to beat the crap out them. Well, at least beat the crap out of Daniel, and lock Carter in a laboratory somewhere," he complained, frustrated by their slow progress. He tried not to worry about the rest of his team, wondered how Carter was managing with a barely mobile Daniel. He swiped the light layer of sweat off his forehead, starting to feel queasy from the trace amounts of venom in the scrapes on his body.

They both froze as they saw a group of eight men emerge through the brush in front of them. The men stopped, just as startled by their appearance.

The first man was tall, heavy-set, his face marred by a harelip. "Stasi!" he commanded, speaking the language of the people in the dome.

The other men pointed spears and crude daggers at Jack and Teal'c. They were all dressed in torn and rough clothing.

"Well, this is good," Jack said. Apparently, this day could get worse. "Look, uh, do you speak any English at all?" he tried, wishing futilely for Daniel's presence right about now. "Uh, Panagopolous, feta, spanakopita... Zeus?" Jack gave up and flashed his best winning smile.

The man frowned at him in confusion, and jabbed his spear in a threatening manner.

So much for my diplomatic skills, Jack thought as he raised his hands in a peaceable gesture.

Without warning, Teal'c reached out and grabbed the spear, yanking it out of the man�s hands. The man shouted in surprise and the rest of his group made to move in on Jack and Teal'c.

A blast shot out, taking down a small tree directly above Jack's head. "Hey!" he exclaimed, instinctively ducking down.

Stepping out from behind a large gnarled tree, a man as large as Teal'c revealed himself, pointing a crossbow at them, his horribly scarred face staring at them impassively.

Jack and Teal'c slowly raised their hands in surrender.

The man shot a command to his men who immediately rushed Jack and Teal'c. They yanked their packs off and pulled out rough twine and proceeded to tie their hands tightly behind their backs.

Jack could see Teal'c itching to go for the guy with the crossbow, and Jack shook his head. Teal'c met his gaze, accepting his decision. There would be opportunity for escape later.

"Erchomai!" the crossbow-wielding man commanded, jerking his head. The other men pushed angrily at Jack and Teal'c. The man swung his crossbow in the captive�s direction as they passed him -- he followed, keeping the weapon on their backs.

Jack found himself wishing again for Daniel's linguistic abilities, or at least to have his friendly, diplomatic company. In all the times that Daniel irritated the hell out of him, he would have given anything to have him here now to try to talk some sense into these godforsaken people.

What was with this planet anyway?

The band and their prisoners trudged through the blasted and dangerous landscape, their captors tireless and relentlessly pushing Jack and Teal�c on as they stumbled.

They stepped out of a thick patch of the twisted trees to come suddenly upon a village of sorts. The village itself was nestled deeply into a ravine, caves carved out of the clay and rock sides. Ramshackle huts were scattered haphazardly around. A huge fire pit stood in the center of the village. Flames roared around a graven idol placed directly in the middle of the fire.

Numerous faces looked up as the group with the two strangers approached. The faces stared at Jack and Teal�c curiously, some of them chattering excitedly to each other.

The men roughly pushed Jack and Teal'c toward a spot over by a large, crudely carved boulder poking out of the side of the ravine. They were moved in the direction of a pit that had been dug close to the side of the boulder.

The group stopped just in front of the pit. The man with the scarred face, apparently in charge of the scruffy group, shouted something at Jack and Teal�c again, gesturing wildly.

Jack shook his head and shrugged, showing the man he couldn't understand him. The other men pushed and shoved at them, yelling in that strange language.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Jack protested. "Look, we can't understand you, but-" he broke off as a particularly hard shove nearly made him lose his footing.

Teal'c strained at the ropes holding his hands. He twisted his hands, gradually loosening the knots that bound his wrists.

The disfigured man noticed that Teal'c had nearly freed himself, and bringing his weapon up above Teal'c's head, slammed it down hard, causing the Jaffa to stumble. The other men grabbed Teal'c and shoved him into the pit.

Jack struggled furiously as they tried to push him in after Teal'c. "Wait, dammit -- don't!" This reminded him way too much of Vietnam for his liking.

Jack braced his feet against the edges of the pit. But the fight was all over when one man kicked his feet loose, and Jack fell the short distance to the ground beside Teal'c. The cover to the pit was quickly replaced, and Jack and Teal'c watched as the men securely tied it down, trapping them inside.

"Well, this sucks," Jack said, as the group retreated.

*****

Her eyes flew open with a start at the sound of something big rustling in the trees ahead of them. Sam didn't even remember dozing off. The sun was now much lower in the sky, almost disappearing in the trees.

Cursing under her breath, angry with herself for sleeping while she was supposed to be on watch, she gently eased the deeply sleeping Daniel onto the ground and got to her feet, wincing at the pins and needles in her legs, and her still aching head. She found a large stick to use as a weapon -- God knew she didn't want to touch one of those hydra things ever again. She waited, alert, standing protectively between those things, or whatever else was out there, and Daniel.

Several large men appeared through the trees, and stopped, staring at Sam in amazement for a moment. They pointed their spears and crude daggers at her. Sam backed away, keeping the stick at the ready. She realized it looked pretty pathetic compared to what she was up against. She was badly outgunned and there were way too many of them for her to fight off. She couldn't even hope to win, but she could at least delay the inevitable.

One man dressed in ragged and torn clothing stepped forward, his long hair tied back with a ragged piece of leather. The left side of his face, from eyebrow to chin, was covered with a dark birthmark. He held his dagger out and said something that sounded like the language the people in the city had been speaking.

Sam looked at him uncomprehendingly and shook her head. "Listen, I - we're lost, we mean you no harm," she tried.

The man stared at her, equally confounded. He repeated the same word to her, more sharply this time.

Sam heard Daniel pipe up behind her, saying something in the same language to the man. She glanced down to see him struggling to get up. Not taking her eyes off the men, she crouched to give Daniel a hand, pulling him awkwardly to his feet. Daniel leaned most of his weight on her and Sam could feel his entire body trembling against hers.

The man flew off a string of syllables gesturing to both of them as he spoke.

"No! Perimeno!" Daniel tested, trying to communicate with the man. He thought the man asked him if they had come from the city. The way the man said 'city' indicated that it wasn't his favorite place -- or people, either.

Daniel haltingly tried to explain to the man what had happened to he and his teammates, giving the man his 'peaceful explorers' speech yet again. He was really going to have work on that speech as it hadn't had the most positive of responses lately.

These people�s language was the same as the Greek from the city -- the same odd accent and unusual pronunciation. Daniel forced his lips to form the difficult words and his mind to grasp the complex language through his thick haze of nausea and exhaustion.

The man nodded, and waved toward the two of them again. "You have been banished then," he said to Daniel, as if understanding now. He gazed curiously at them. "Eyes the color of the sky," he said, wonder filling his voice as he stared openly at the two.

"Daniel?" Sam said, darting a glance at her friend.

"They speak an odd dialect," Daniel said, glancing for a brief moment in her direction, "but he wanted to know if we're from the city. I told him what happened, and now I think he wants us to come with him. He's fascinated by our eye color too," he added. "I don't think they've ever seen blue eyes before."

"That's why they were looking at us so strangely in the city too," Sam answered, keeping her gaze on the men. "Why do they want us to come with them?"

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't really look like we have much choice, do we?"

"No, I guess not," she agreed, resigned, but glared at the men as they encircled them and led them away, pushing their way through the brush. A few of the men carried lit torches, swinging them at the deadly hydra-things as they passed.

The trek was endless and hard on Daniel. He stumbled every few steps, his vision continuing to blur in and out of focus, as his strength failed; his breath came in rapid gasps.

The men refused to stop, even for a rest.

The captives -- was that what they were? Sam wondered -- she had no way to know, outside of testing, and she didn�t think that would be such a good idea -- found themselves heading back down again, backtracking all the way from which they had painfully come and then still further down. Finally, they arrived at a village.

The few inhabitants looked up to stare at the two strangers. A woman dressed in ragged clothing and whose spine was twisted in a painful-looking curvature pointed at Sam and Daniel, jabbering to her companions. They others joined in, scowling and gesturing, disturbed at the intrusion of the unusual-looking strangers.

Daniel�s attention drifted from the noisy villagers to a brightly burning firepit-cum-altar in the middle of the caves and huts, reminding him of the ancient cults of Ahura-Mazda, of which that cult centered on fire altars in the open air. Daniel also spotted marching figures carved in the rigid postures and low-relief style of the Egyptians on the sides of the rocks protruding from the ravines.

He shook his head, irritated with himself; now was not the time for cultural observations. Well maybe a little cultural observation was in order, but these people's earthly origins seemed to have no relation to their aversion to strangers and the unfamiliar. So different from their sociable Greek ancestors, Daniel thought. These people didn't appear to be nearly as advanced technologically but they were almost as difficult to communicate with as the urbanites above them.

They stopped just outside one of the caves. Daniel, with his sheer momentum no longer keeping him upright, staggered against Sam, suddenly overcome with dizziness, his thoughts and observations interrupted.

Sam struggled to keep him standing. "Daniel, hang in there!" She needed him to communicate with these people. She didn't like the way the men were looking at her now either.

Fighting off the greyness creeping into his vision as the world swam slowly in and out, Daniel began to speak to the man with the birthmark, in the other�s language. Hoping that listening to their guides' talk as they were brought to the village had increased his grasp of the dialect, Daniel tried, "Have you seen others like us, dressed liked us?" he asked, pulling at his jacket.

The man nodded, understanding him and tossed his head in the direction of a second group of men about 30 feet away. They appeared to be guarding something in the ground. Some kind of prison? Daniel wondered.

The others were laughing, looking into the pit, apparently mocking their prisoners.

"Jack! Teal'c?" Daniel called. He heard a faint voice coming from the ground, sounding distinctly like Jack.

Then louder, they heard Jack�s disbelieving shout, "Daniel? Carter?"

The guards increased their own shouts, and picked up more small rocks and other debris to throw down into the pit at their captives.

"Jack! Be quiet for a minute! I'll try to get you out of there!" Daniel called out, then switched back to the Greek variant. "Why do you have them in there? They are our comrades. They mean you no harm, nor do we. Are they hurt?" he asked the man.

"They have not been harmed by us," the Greek man answered. "They are spies from the city and they refuse to speak as we do. You know these men?"

"Yes, I know them and they are not spies. They just do not understand your language as I do. We are a team, a � a tribe," Daniel explained. "They fell, and we became separated."

"How is it that you are a tribe when you are the only who speaks as we do? Even your woman does not."

"Umm, on my world, I am someone who speaks many different languages. I learn about other people, about different tribes on other worlds."

"Other worlds? There are no other 'worlds' than here and the domed city," the man sneered. He looked at Daniel as if the archeologist had suddenly become deranged.

The other men crowded around Sam and Daniel, glowering at them. One reached out and snatched at Sam's unfamiliar blonde hair, leering at her.

Sam jerked her head away, fervently wishing for some kind of weapon, alarmed as the atmosphere suddenly became decidedly threatening. She raised her hands in a defensive position, shifting her eyes from one aggressor to the other. She jumped as one man slapped at Daniel's head, shouting something at him.

"Wai--wait, we can help each other here!" Daniel protested, ducking his head against the assault. Sam shoved the man away and positioned herself protectively in front of Daniel.

The man with the birthmark stood back, watching their reactions. Then, raising his hands, he shouted at the men. He must have been in charge, because they reluctantly backed off, still eyeing Sam and Daniel with suspicion.

"So what world are you from?" the man asked in a mocking tone and studying Daniel with a smirk on his face.

Daniel gritted his teeth against the waves of vertigo and nausea--that smack to his head hadn't helped much either. He took a short, shallow breath before replying, "We're from a place called Earth and there are many other worlds than this. This... world, we�re standing on is just one of many thousands of worlds out there. Perhaps we can help each other. If you help us, we can help you, share our knowledge. First -- please, I need to speak with my friends." Daniel gasped at a sudden jab of pain in his chest and lungs, his entire body shuddering.

The man considered, still studying Daniel, and then shook his head. "When he returns, you will speak with Lasus regarding your friends. Now you are to go into the cave," he said jerking his head in the direction of a darkened opening along one large boulder. "The poison from the plokami is overtaking you. If you and this woman have been banished from the domed city, then you are kindred with us now."

"Plokami?" Daniel repeated, his exhausted mind trying to think of the translation.

The man moved closer to them, pulling Daniel away from Sam, and half-dragged him, protesting, toward the cave.

Sam caught up to them, and glaring at the man, she touched Daniel�s shoulder. "Daniel � �plokami�? What's that?"

"Tentacles," he whispered, remembering now. "Greek for 'tentacles.'"

The man deposited Daniel not too gently onto a pile of straw on the ground. He uttered a short phrase in a commanding tone to the woman inside. She nodded shortly and went over to stir at something in a wood-carved bowl.

Sam crouched beside Daniel, laying a hand against his cheek. "Daniel, what just happened?"

"We can�t talk to Jack and Teal�c until somebody named Lasus returns. I�m guessing he�s the guy in charge around here," he said, his voice wavering with fatigue.

The woman watched them with a wary gaze, stirring and mashing whatever was in the bowl. Sam noticed the woman was quite young and that she had one dark brown and one light green eye.

Daniel's face was tight with pain from the abrupt shift in positions, small groans escaping him with each breath. He was shivering from cold, shock, or both. Sam pulled her medkit out from her pack, looking for another syringe of morphine.

There was only one more dose left.

"No, Sam," Daniel breathed out, watching her through his lashes from under half-closed exhausted eyes. "We don't know what... what they're going to do with us. They think Jack and Teal'c are spies. I need to... to stay awake...talk to these people."

She looked at him, torn, but finally said, "Daniel, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure -- it's... not that bad," Daniel whispered.

"Liar."

He just smiled a little in response, shivered and gazed up at the cave ceiling. Sam put the syringe aside, but kept it close by, just in case.

The woman poured whatever was in the bowl into a cup and pressed it in Sam's hand. Sam peered into the cup, the stuff inside was a sludgy-looking green liquid. She raised the cup and sniffed -- it smelled awful.

"What is it?" she asked, her face scrunched in digust.

The woman spoke and mimed that Sam should give it Daniel.

"She said that I should drink it or the poison from those plokami-things will kill me very soon," Daniel supplied, his teeth rattling together from the force of his shivering as he spoke.

Sam looked at the cup uncertainly again, but given Daniel's condition, and their situation, she didn�t see any other options, or resources. Sam realized that these people must be far too familiar with the damage the creatures could inflict and probably had their own methods to treat it. She had only been guessing up to this point how to help Daniel.

Either way, she knew Daniel wasn�t going hold out much longer, and if this stuff gave him a chance... Sam decided to give it him. Supporting Daniel�s head on one arm, she held the cup to his lips, coaxing him to drink it.

He choked some of it down, coughing. "Oh God, that's horrible," he whispered.

The woman gestured urgently that he should drink more, so Sam tipped the cup to his mouth again.

"Can't..." Daniel choked out, protesting and turning his face away; just the smell was making his stomach churn and bile rise up in his throat.

"Take it slow," Sam told him gently, placing the cup against his mouth again, and he struggled to swallow the vile stuff.

After a couple of sips, Daniel dropped his head to the straw and pushed her hand away, nearly making her drop the cup. Rolling to his side, he threw up the entire amount of liquid he had managed to swallow into the empty bowl readily placed beside him. When his stomach stopped heaving, he rested his head on his good arm, trembling, his face damp with sweat.

The woman spoke again, indicating that Daniel should drink more. Sam hesitated, watching him worriedly. God, if the stuff was only making him sicker -- which had to be torture for him -- what was the point?

The woman impatiently grabbed the cup out of Sam's hand. Daniel could just make out, through his misery, the woman telling him to try to keep some of it down; that it was the only way to save him.

She eased him onto his back once more, propped his head firmly in the crook of her arm, leaning her body on top of his right arm to immobilize it and keep him from fighting her. She then pressed the cup to his lips, pouring the liquid into him in small sips, her motions much practiced.

Daniel tried not to choke as she relentlessly kept the cup to his mouth, forcing him to swallow sip after sip after sip. Finally deciding he'd had enough, she let him down again.

Daniel coughed miserably, his injured ribs on fire, taking shuddery breaths as the stuff threatened to come back up. He tried to roll onto his side again, but the woman pushed him back, keeping one hand on his uninjured shoulder, and stroking his brow with her other hand, making soothing, whispering noises.

Sam watched all this in alarm, but it looked as though the woman knew what she was doing. Whatever she had done, seemed as if it were helping and her motions were soothing Daniel as he managed to keep the stuff down. Despite his determination to stay alert, after a few minutes, Daniel's eyes drooped shut and he drifted off.

The woman pulled a rough blanket over him, tucking it around him. Sam caught her eye, said, "Thank you," and bowed her head slightly, as she had seen Daniel do in many foreign exchanges.

The woman smiled, bowing her head, as well. Her entire face lit up when she smiled, revealing a fragile beauty in such a harsh world. Pointing to Daniel, she asked something. Sam shook her head, not understanding.

The woman touched her hand to her chest. "Dasha," she said, introducing herself.

"Oh - Sam," she replied, touching her own chest. Then pointing to her exhausted teammate, "Daniel."

Dasha smiled again and reached for another bowl by the small cooking fire nearby. She poured something that looked like tea into two cups. She picked up the other bowl containing the medicine and poured a small amount into one of the cups of tea. She offered it to Sam, pointing at the bandage peeking out from her torn sleeve; Sam realized that Dasha recognized she had the same type of injury as Daniel's.

Dasha took a sip of her tea first to show Sam that it was safe to drink. Sam sniffed at the liquid tentatively. It smelled minty, with a hint of berry, almost masking the smell of the medicine -- she supposed that Dasha had mixed it with the tea to dilute its effects. She took a sip of the hot liquid. If the plokami-things were as venomous as Dasha said they were, Sam decided it probably was a good idea to drink some of the medicine too.

The tea Dasha had mixed it with was surprisingly good � Sam could taste only a hint of bitterness, and the heat was comforting amidst the dampness that had seeped into her bones. She wrapped her hands around the cup to warm them.

After finishing her tea, Sam dug out the other specimen container from her pack. Retrieving the cup of medicine Dasha had given Daniel, she poured the small amount left in the cup into the container and placed it back in the pack, storing it for analysis when they got back home. That was, if, they ever got home.

Sam leaned back against the cave wall, sitting close to Daniel, trying to catch a little rest while she could. Dasha bustled around quietly, careful not to disturb her two guests.

The man with the birthmark returned later and spoke with Dasha. As Dasha chattered to him, Sam wondered if he was her husband, or mate. If he was a kind person, as Dasha obviously was, maybe Sam could convince him to help her -- maybe even Dasha would be a positive influence on him. Now would be a good time to try, while he was relaxed and with his guard down.

Sam stood, making eye contact with Dasha and smiled at her. Sam stole a quick glance over at the pit, concerned for her captive friends. It was much too quiet over there now.

Dasha pointed to Sam and told the man her name. He then turned to regard Sam curiously. Pointing to himself, he said, "Tassos."

"Tassos? May I please speak with my friends?" Sam asked, repeatedly pointing to herself, then to the guarded pit in the distance.

He seemed to understand, and considered her request, watching her speculatively. Then he nodded, and took her arm, leading her over to the pit.

Sam extracted her arm from Tassos� grip and followed him into the group of men. They leered at her, snickering to each other. Sam strode past them, straightening to her full height, and in turn, met each man in the eye.

Tassos shouted sharply at the men and they quieted, parting to allow her to get close to the pit.

Tassos appeared to have some position of authority over these people himself, Sam noted. Peering through the lid of criss-crossed branches into the gloom, she could just make out Jack and all she could see of Teal'c was the gold on his forehead gleaming in the dark.

"Colonel - Teal'c -- are you all right?" she called.

Jack looked up, surprised to hear her voice, and peered at her through the bars. "We're fine. How are you guys? Where's Daniel?"

"He's sleeping - the walk here was pretty tough on him, sir. These people seem to think you're spies from the city, that's why they put you in here."

"Spies? What the hell could they possibly have for us to spy on?" Jack asked, incredulous. "Do they think those dome-dwellers are worried about what the psychotic man-eating vines are up to?" he shook his head, and looked at Teal�c for a moment, then back up to Sam. "Can you get us out of here?"

Sam explained Daniel's earlier conversation with Tassos and how they had to wait for the leader, Lasus, to return. "The good thing is, Daniel can at least communicate with them -- we'll get you out of here, sir!" she quickly finished, having to raise her voice as Tassos took her arm and pulled her away. The guards closed around the pit again.

She jerked her arm away from Tassos�s grip again, scowling in frustration. Tassos touched her shoulder, pointing her back toward the cave.

By the time she passed the fire pit, she could hear Daniel calling her name, his voice edged with fear, and when she got to the cave entrance, she saw that he was sitting up, wide-eyed, looking around for her.

"Sam! God � I thought they had thrown you in that pit too." Daniel�s face relaxed with relief.

She crouched down beside him. "I managed to get them to let me talk to the colonel and Teal'c. They seem to be okay."

Sam and Daniel peered outside the cave as they heard loud voices nearing. They saw a tall, well-muscled man, his face terribly scarred and misshapen, but he walked with an air of authority and confidence.

"How much do you want to bet that's their leader?" Daniel asked, his eyes following the man's progress as he strode purposefully past them. Two of the three men behind him carried some animal carcasses draped over their shoulders, apparently returning from a hunt.

Daniel frowned slightly in surprise to see that the last man in the group was carrying an infant, hearing its cry. The baby was wrapped in a beautiful, delicate, multi-colored shawl, its brightness standing out in stark contrast to the green and grey of the landscape around them.

Daniel looked up at Tassos, and speaking in the other's language again, asked, "Is that Lasus, your leader? May we speak with him now?"

Tassos shrugged, "He may wish to speak with you or he may not. They have returned from a successful hunt, so perhaps he will be in good spirits. I will take you to him, that is, if you can stand," he said, casting a skeptical eye at Daniel.

"I can stand," the archaeologist said, determined, and struggled to get to his feet. Sam started to protest, fearing he was too weak, but Daniel didn't seem to be in any mood for arguing. She grabbed him around his waist, pulling him up.

"Take us to your leader," Daniel said in a mock British accent, for Sam's benefit. He struggled not to lean on to her too much in an attempt to appear as though he could hold his own in a conversation with the imposing leader.

Tassos led them to one of the larger caves. Motioning for them to wait, he called to the man inside. Hearing a gruff reply, Tassos stepped into the cave, opening a door roughly made of tightly-woven twigs, the interstices blocked with grass. He pulled it closed behind him.

Sam and Daniel could hear them talking, but their voices were too soft for Daniel to understand their words.

The door opened again and Tassos stepped outside, followed by the large man they had seen earlier, his wide shoulders nearly touching the cave's entrance on either side. He stared openly at Sam and Daniel, curiously looking them over before finally speaking.

"You have been harmed by the plokami?" he asked Daniel, taking in the smaller man's bandages and sweat-dampened, ashen face. The bruise on Daniel's cheekbone stood out like a brand on his pale skin.

Daniel pulled himself straighter and moved away from Sam, trying to not wince, as he answered the man. "Yes. I wish to ask for your assistance in exchange for ours. I am Daniel Jackson, this is Samantha Carter. The two you hold in that pit are Jack O�Neill and Teal�c. I beg you to release them -- they are our friends, part of our. . . tribe. We are travellers; from a world far from here, and we were banished by the people in the domed city. We mean no harm and would only like to return to our own world."

The man regarded him with scorn. "I am Lasus, leader of these people. There are no other worlds than this. What do you take me for?" he snarled at Daniel, twisting his damaged face into a gargoyle mask.

"I respectfully take you to be a strong and capable leader of these people. And there are other worlds than this one. Many, many worlds. There are as many worlds to travel to as there are stars in the sky you see at night," Daniel replied, wincing inwardly, hoping he wasn�t laying it on too thick.

Lasus eyed him, still very skeptical. "There are many stars in the sky."

Daniel paused, biting at his lower lip and tried to find the right words to convince the man. He distractedly pushed his slipping glasses back up his nose.

"What is wrong with your eyes?" Lasus asked, staring at him.

Daniel had to think about what the man was talking about, and wondered for a moment just how bad he actually looked. Then he realized that Lasus was probably, like his city-dwelling cousins, baffled by his glasses and light colored eyes.

He noticed for the first time that the coloring of skin and hair among this band was as dark as the city dwellers' had been. He and Sam were as much the odd-ones-out here as they had been there. Daniel could only hope that these cave dwellers' reaction to them would be for more moderate. Looking at the man's alarmingly misshapen face, the damage most likely caused by burns, Daniel thought it was ironic that Lasus was looking at his glasses and eyes like they were some kind of horrific deformity -- the pot was really calling the kettle black here.

Taking off the glasses and offering them to Lasus for inspection, Daniel said, "These are just something to help me see better. I can see without them, but they help me to see better." Spotting a man who was leaning heavily on a stick, supporting a twisted leg and watching them curiously, Daniel explained, "They are used as one with a bad leg uses a crutch."

Lasus nodded slowly, accepting his explanation, and turned Daniel's glasses around in his hands. One of the man's hands was badly scarred as well, the last two fingers twisted and curled against his palm. He then placed the glasses on his large face, his damaged nose making them tilt at a crazy angle. He peered at them through the lenses, grinning.

Daniel smiled back at the man, hoping this was a good sign. Removing the glasses, Lasus handed them back to him. Daniel folded the frames and placed them in his jacket pocket, having had enough of the curious stares and explaining his 'affliction' for the rest of this mission.

If we get out of this in one piece, I'm wearing contacts to the next planet, Daniel told himself.

Pointing at Sam, Lasus stated, "The woman is attractive -- she is whole. But her eyes are a strange color, as are yours. Her hair is most unusual as well."

Daniel frowned, not understanding what Lasus meant by 'whole'. He guessed that blue eyes and blonde hair were an extreme rarity given the small population's racial background and intolerance to strangers.

Lasus continued, "As you know, the people of the city want only perfection. We 'inferiors' must live or die here, they care not what happens to any of us - their own kin. Any of them who is not whole or perfect is sent here, banished forever." Staring openly at Sam, Lasus said, "Is she your woman? If she is not taken, then she will belong to me."

Daniel looked around, taking in all the people standing close by and watching the exchange. He realized that all of them seemed to have some sort of affliction. A woman missing a hand, a man with a twisted leg, a blind boy, a woman with a badly curved spine -- all of them must have been rejected, disposed of.

"Daniel?" Sam said, taking hold of his arm, growing irritated with not knowing what was going on for so long.

Daniel darted a quick glance at her. "In a minute, Sam." He redirected his attention to Lasus. "Uh - yes! She is taken, she... she is um, my... my woman." Daniel stammered, hoping this was the safest answer under the circumstances. He just dreaded having to explain it to the combat-trained Major Carter.

Lasus appeared momentarily disappointed. Then grinning, he said, "But you will be dead soon, you have much poison in you." He pushed at Daniel's injured chest, narrowly missing the mangled hand tied against it. "You are as weak as a child now," he scoffed, as Daniel stumbled back, nearly losing his footing and flinching at the flare of pain. Daniel caught himself only to have the man shove lightly, almost mockingly at him again.

"Hey!" Sam yelled, protesting, and wondering where that suddenly came from. She caught Daniel�s arm, steadying him, then pushed Lasus back, away from Daniel. The big man just grinned at her, which only served to increase her temper and confusion.

"Sam, it's okay -- it's a guy thing," Daniel tried to reassure her, waving her assistance off. He gritted his teeth and bit back a groan as he stood his ground, glaring at the man. Standing up to the alpha male of this pack was hard enough as beat up as he was, and having 'his woman' stick up for him wasn't helping much in making him look very tough.

Sam moved closer to Daniel anyway, ready to help him if he needed it. She looked back at forth at the two men, fervently wishing she knew what they were talking about. A 'guy thing' � what the hell was that supposed to mean?

Daniel straightened up as much as he could again. Meeting the man full in the eye, he spoke in what he hoped was a firm voice, "Perhaps I will die soon, but I ask you now, as a leader, as a man of honor," he paused to let the words sink in, "I ask you to please help her and the rest of my... tribe. We wish only to return home. If you will help us to return home, we will repay your kindness in full."

The man observed Daniel, his expression cold, calculating as he considered the stranger's request. "I am an honorable man and if she is your woman, she will be treated as such," he said finally, giving in to a grudging respect for Daniel's quiet determination. "You ask for help in returning to this world you come from?" he said, skeptical again.

"Yes, I do. We come from one of many worlds out there," Daniel said again, his voice starting to shake with the exhaustion that was gradually overcoming him. "The place where we come from is called �Earth.�"

"Show me where this world is," Lasus said.

Daniel bent painfully to one knee, and drew a rough diagram of Earth's solar system in the dirt with his finger. Beside the circle representing Earth, he drew the Stargate�s Tau�ri symbol.

Glancing up at Lasus, Daniel thought he saw a glimmer of recognition flash across the man's face as he stared at the diagram.

Lasus narrowed his eyes, and looked at Daniel with renewed suspicion. "Perhaps you lie, and you truly are spies from the city."

Rising awkwardly to his feet again with Sam's help, Daniel continued, "Think about it, Lasus, where else would we have come from? If the people of the city are as harsh as you say, would they have let us live up there for so long, looking as different as we do?" he said, gesturing toward Sam, then himself. "We would have been sent here long ago, as children, right?"

Lasus kept his gaze locked on Daniel, taking in his words.

Daniel took off his watch, his trembling fingers fumbling with the clasp, and handed it to Lasus. The man held the watch in his damaged hand, gazing at the digital numbers with wonder.

Daniel didn't notice that Sam had kept her tight grip on his arm, watching him closely. He couldn't see his own face, which was growing alarmingly paler by the minute. "It's yours now," he nodded towards the watch in Lasus' hand.

Lasus blinked, surprised, and lowered his head in thanks. He studied the watch again, then carefully tucked it in his shirt.

"Do you know of a way to return to the city?" Daniel asked, unaware that he was wavering from side to side, despite Sam's grasp on him.

"There is no way back to the city that doesn't mean death, and why would you wish to return there?" Lasus sneered. "To people who leave newly born babies on the ground, their own kin, their own blood? The sick and the helpless? Those with even the most minor of imperfections, and injuries that can be treated, are left here, cast off. If we did not check the mountain where they leave them from time to time, they would be carried off, eaten by animals or killed by the plokami. Our entire tribe is made up of their rejects. My men found that one just this morning." He jerked his head in the direction of a woman who was cradling the infant they had seen the other men bring into the village. It was still wrapped in the bright, delicate fabric. The woman rocked the baby gently, cradling it in an awkward embrace. One of the woman's arms was much shorter than the other, ending just below the elbow.

The baby was too bundled up to see what misfortune of genetics had doomed it to this place.

"I agree," Daniel replied after a moment, his voice breathless. "They, they are a cold, uncaring people." Daniel tried to catch his breath, but his lungs and chest were aching terribly, making breathing and speech difficult. He closed his eyes for a moment against a sharp stab in his ribs. He had to keep going, keep talking no matter how much it hurt. When he opened his eyes again, his thick lashes were wet with tears. He forced himself to continue, his voice wavering, "We only wish to return to the city to get to the Stargate, a -- a giant stone circle. That is our only way home."

Lasus's eyes widened at this. "You travel through the stone circle?" he said, incredulous.

"Yes! We do, that is how we got here -- do... do you know of it?" Daniel asked, trying to ignore another nauseating wave of dizziness, his heart racing erratically, pounding painfully in his chest. He struggled to focus on the man through a blur of dizziness and unshed tears -- he was seeing two Lasuses standing in front of him

Two Lasuses, Daniel thought hazily, almost giddy with exhaustion. The correct plural would be what? Lasi? Lasusi?

Daniel�s vision swam, doubled again, then greyed out. He gritted his teeth. Just a little longer, hang on. "Have you... seen... the circle... before?" he gasped. He couldn't get enough air. God, his ribs hurt.

Lasus gazed down at the Tau'ri symbol drawn on the ground, considering the possibilities now.

Daniel was sure of the recognition on Lasus�s face now. He had seen the symbol before.

"We have our own such circle, not far from here," Lasus told him, raising his eyes to meet Daniel�s.

"What?" Daniel said, amazed, wondering if he had heard right, or was just getting delirious. He tried to speak over the sudden loud roaring in his ears, "Did you say..." A wave rushed heavily over him, sinking somewhere into his middle as the world faded to grey, then black.

"Daniel!" Sam cried out, fighting without much success to hang on to him as his legs gave out. He collapsed hard to the ground, nearly landing face-first on Lasus' feet.

*****

Jack and Teal'c faintly heard Daniel jabbering away with the people above them. They had to strain to make out Daniel's exhausted-sounding voice through the guttural chattering of the guards above them.

Jack tried to hear what was going on, but couldn�t make anything out � hell, it was all Greek to him anyway.

Daniel must be making nice with the natives, he thought. He hoped that whatever Danny was saying was getting through to them. Despite what he had said to Daniel earlier, Jack knew that Daniel�s diplomatic skills were good. Very good, in fact. Daniel was the only person Jack could think of who could make friends with an Unas, for crying out loud; one that had been planning on having him for dinner, to boot. If he could do that, he could handle these cavemen � couldn�t he?

Jack jumped when he heard Carter call out Daniel�s name - her voice sounding scared.

Cursing in helpless frustration, Jack roared, "Hey! What the hell is going on up there? Carter! Daniel! Are you all right?"

Getting no response, Jack cursed again, kicking at the dirt wall with fury. "Let us out of here, goddammit!"

Teal'c stared up at the criss-crossed pattern of light above their heads, and the guards beyond it.

After a long period of voices and activity sounding above them, the latticework was pulled open.

Jack�s heart jumped into his throat � he squinted upward, half expecting to see Carter or Daniel being dumped in with them, but instead, a large flask of water and a generous amount of food was lowered into the pit and then the cover was shut again.

Jack and Teal'c looked at each other in surprise. "Do you think this is a good sign or a bad sign?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

*****

In Dasha's cave, Sam sat beside Daniel, her brow creased with concern as she wiped his face with a cool, wet cloth. When he had crashed bonelessly to Lasus's feet, Sam's heart had skipped a few beats; for one moment she thought that Daniel was....

No, she didn't even want to think about that.

Daniel muttered deliriously in what sounded like the variant of Greek he had been speaking, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Sam had absolutely no idea what Daniel and Lasus talked about. The man paced impatiently outside the cave, waiting for Daniel to waken.

Lasus had personally carried Daniel back to the cave, ordering Dasha to care for him. He also ordered the guards to lower the food and water into the pit for Jack and Teal'c. Sam could only hope Lasus�s apparent concern meant that Daniel had gotten through to the man.

"I know you need to rest, but I really wish you�d wake up just for a minute and tell me what's going on around here," Sam said with a sigh, speaking softly to Daniel as she brushed his short, sweat-dampened hair off his forehead.

Daniel rolled his head from side to side, still murmuring incomprehensibly, his eyelids fluttering, starting to waken.

"Daniel, can you hear me?" Sam asked, laying her hand on his cheek.

"Whh... Saamm?" he murmured.

"Yeah, it�s me, it�s okay."

He pulled his eyes open with an effort and whispered, "Wh-what happened? I was talking... and..."

"And, you passed out on Lasus's feet, and scared the hell out of me," she answered. "I thought you..." She stopped and swallowed hard, tears pricking at her eyes. "Daniel, you have to tell me what you two talked about."

Daniel�s eyes widened and he tried to sit up. The world spun around in a sickening loop, fuzzed to black as an explosion of pain ripped through him. He fell back, crying out, grabbing at his ribs. Very bad idea, he thought, blinking back tears.

"Whoa, slow down," Sam said, placing a hand on his chest.

Daniel lay still for a few moments, wheezing in pain-racked breaths. "Sam... th-they have a... a Stargate!" he told her once he had regained his breath enough to speak.

"I know they do, under the domed city," she reminded him, frowning and wondering if Daniel was delirious.

"No... I mean... here... in the forest."

"What? They do? Where?" Sam sat up straighter, her eyes widening with excitement.

"I don't know... passed out before... we got to that part," Daniel half-whispered.

"A second Stargate," she mused. "Why would they have two on this planet?"

"Same reason we have... two on Earth... I guess. Help me up, Sam, I have to talk to Lasus again."

"Daniel, you need to take it slow -- let me give you something for that pain."

"No, listen to me, I don't know how much longer... I can keep this up." Daniel said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, his jaw set with determination. "If I fall asleep again, I don't know if... if I�ll be able to get up again. I have to talk to Lasus now, so we can... get out of here." Daniel's exhausted eyes fixed on hers. "Please, Sam."

Sam held his gaze for a long moment, then reluctantly helped him sit up. She supported him as he wavered, gasping in short sips of air, small whimpers of pain escaping through his tightly clenched teeth. She knew he shouldn't be doing anything other than sleeping, but Daniel was right, without him, they weren't going anywhere.

"Lasus?" Daniel called, his voice breathless. He bit his lip, suppressed a moan and closed his eyes, waiting, hoping for the pain to recede to a more tolerable level.

Hearing his name, Lasus came into the cave, and stared down at Daniel.

Dasha glanced at the big man, and moved closer to Daniel, holding another cup of the herbal medicine in her hand. She crouched down by Daniel's other side. "You must drink more. It will help to slow the poison."

"Later," he said, opening his eyes again to see Lasus standing over him.

"Take it now," Lasus commanded. "She is our healer. Her medicine will help you."

Daniel sighed, then nodded with reluctance. Taking the cup and grimacing, he took a sip. Squeezing shut his eyes, he forced himself to drink the foul-smelling and-tasting brew, ignoring the instant wave of nausea. He breathed carefully through his mouth, trying hard not to smell the stuff as he choked the substance down.

When he'd managed to drink most of the medicine, Daniel dropped the cup and wincing, he pulled his legs up to his chest, careful of his ribs and arm. He dropped his head to rest his forehead on his knees, breathing slowly and shallowly through his mouth.

Sam gently rubbed Daniel�s upper back, trying to ignore Lasus staring at them. "Take your time, let it settle before you try to get up," she told her friend.

Daniel groaned in reply and after a long moment, raised his head. He tried to stand, pushing himself up with his good arm and managed to get to one knee, before stopping, trembling - his face draining even further of color. He started to wobble over sideways when Sam quickly ducked under his good arm and stood up with him, taking his weight.

"God, Daniel, take it slow," she told him, exasperated.

Daniel didn�t want to tell her that he could feel himself growing steadily weaker - he didn�t have time to rest. Dasha's medicine only slowed down the poison in his system, as she had said. It did nothing for the pain, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the poison completely overtook him. All he hoped for now was to hang in there long enough to help get Sam, Jack and Teal'c back home. He might live long enough to get through the Stargate, but that wasn't his aim. Not any more.

He was surprised this realization didn�t frighten him more. He supposed he was too tired and in too much misery to be scared anyway.

"Lasus, do you really have a Stargate here?" Daniel said, his voice rising not much above a whisper, and managing to stand without Sam�s help now.

"Yes, I have gazed on it many a time. Only Tassos and I know of its existence. I have gone many times to where it sits, it is a marvelous place. I have often wondered what purpose the circle may have once served. If you know of a way to travel to other worlds through this 'Stargate,' I will take you there only, and once my people are in a better place, I will release your tribe. You will then be allowed to return to your home," Lasus stated.

Daniel frowned at him, shaking his head. "No. You must release them first. We will arrange to have your people sent to another world, but we all go to the Stargate together."

"I think you are in no position to make demands," Lasus said, his eyes narrowing.

Daniel's blue gaze met Lasus's dark one. "Oh, I think I am."

Lasus stared at him, his big hands clenching into fists.

"We are your only way out of here," Daniel countered. "If you want to leave this place, you are going to have to trust us, and we you. We must become allies, not enemies."

"If I do not agree to your demands, then you will die here," Lasus sneered.

"And so will you. If we wait too long, I probably will die, and once that happens, none of you are going anywhere."

Sam glanced at Daniel, surprised at the steely edge to his voice.

Lasus glared at the wounded man, contemplating his words. Finally, Lasus answered, "Very well. I will release your tribe, and we will discuss the arrangements to travel through this 'Stargate'."

Daniel nodded, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Daniel?" Sam broke in, exasperated. "If you don't tell me what's going on right now --"

"Sorry, Sam," Daniel paused, blearily having to think for a moment before being able to switch back to English. "Lasus told me the Stargate is close by, in the forest somewhere. He wanted me to go with him, and make you guys stay behind. Once his people were safely on another planet, you would be freed and then we could all go home."

"That�s a bad plan," Sam broke in, unconsciously imitating Jack.

"Yeah, that�s what I said, too. I talked him into letting Jack and Teal�c out and all of us going to the Stargate together. Lasus wasn�t too thrilled with the idea, but he agreed to it."

Sam nodded, thinking, "Well, it's not like we haven't transplanted civilizations before, and they seem to have gotten a little friendlier toward us. It�s the Colonel�s final decision, though."

"I � ah � I kind of already told Lasus that we�d do it," Daniel said, ducking his head. "He wants us to follow him," he added as Lasus strode out of the cave, beckoning to them.

"You may speak with your friends first and tell them of our agreement," Lasus told Daniel as they headed toward the pit.

Daniel took a few shaky steps forward, placing his feet very carefully as he walked, as if he wasn't sure just where the ground was. Sam shook her head and grabbed his arm again, pulling it over her shoulder and held on to him tightly, supporting his weight.

Lasus stopped and waited for them to catch up. He now bowed his head respectfully to Sam as they passed. She looked at Lasus, wondering what Daniel had said to him about her, earlier.

Reading her thoughts too well as he usually did, Daniel said, speaking rapidly, "Oh, by the way, Sam? I-I almost forgot, just so you know, I uh, I told Lasus that you were... um... with me, because otherwise he wanted to... umm, take you for his mate - I uh, just thought that you'd rather � that it would be easier-" he broke off, his pale features flushing. "I'm guessing... hoping... he's not going to fight me for you, now that w-we're offering him a way out of here."

"He wanted to what?" Sam eyes widened and she darted a quick glance in Lasus's direction. "God... no, I mean, thanks for telling him that, Daniel. It'll definitely make things easier," she added and unconsciously pulled Daniel a little closer to her. If that's what Lasus thought, fine with her. Not that she�d just let the man try to claim her - he�d at least lose a few teeth and suffer some broken bones for his efforts.

Seeing Lasus watching her from the corner of a gnarled eye, she kissed Daniel firmly on the side of his mouth, for further effect. Luckily Lasus looked away again, just missing Daniel�s startled glance at her, his face flushing a deeper shade of red.

In spite of their situation, and her increasing fear for him, Sam had to smile a little at Daniel�s reaction. She also couldn�t help but be appreciative of his 'big brother'-like protection of her around other men. It was sort of cute.

When they reached the pit, the guards parted respectfully for Lasus. Daniel crouched down a bit to see into the hole, holding onto the boulder beside the pit for support, and breathing hard. Squinting through the bars of branches, he called down, "Jack?"

"Daniel? You look like shit, and you don't sound much better either," Jack's voice immediately drifted back.

"Thank you," Daniel answered, flashing a wry smile. Nice to see you too, Jack, he thought. "Listen, Jack, they have a Stargate here. These people will take us to it, but only if they can come with us."

"Come with us? Why?" Jack squinted up at him, hands on his hips, feet planted wide.

"Well... these people are exiled here, forced to live in the dirt and in caves, wouldn't you want to leave too?" Daniel answered. "I really think it's our only way out of here." He carefully omitted that he and Lasus had already made the agreement.

Sam appeared beside Daniel, peering down at Jack. "I agree with Daniel, sir. I think we should do it - it's the only way we have to get home. I think they're peaceful, they're a little rough around the edges, but they have been fairly kind to us so far."

"Well, how nice for you!" Jack said. "Teal'c and I have been sitting in a cold, dark, wet hole in the ground for the past day! Quite frankly, I'm skeptical!"

"Listen to me, Jack!" Daniel said again. "I think they were suspicious of you and Teal'c because you don't speak their language, and you look too 'normal', Jack. They thought you were spies. The only reason they didn't throw us in there too, is because they thought we were 'kindred' with them, 'rejects' from the city because of my glasses and because Sam and I have blue eyes -- a definite oddity around here. That's what the people in the domed city do: anyone who doesn't match their idea of perfection gets dumped here and these people take them in."

"For crying out loud - take them with us?" he said, pacing the short length of their enclosure, thinking.

Teal'c spoke up, "I believe that we should agree to these terms, O'Neill."

Jack shot a glance at Teal'c, "You too?" He craned his neck to stare up at Daniel again, still considering. Jack sighed, then said, "All right. Tell them it's a deal, but first, ask them to let us the hell out of here now, please?"

*****

The terms agreed upon, Jack and Teal'c were pulled from the pit. Daniel reintroduced them to Lasus and the team followed the man to his cave as much to discuss their departure as to give Daniel a very needed rest.

Gathered inside Lasus' cave, Sam patched up Jack�s numerous cuts and scratches. Teal�c�s were already mostly healed thanks to his symbiote. She then unzipped Daniel�s jacket to check his bandages again and winced when she saw blood and serum seeping through them. His fall earlier hadn't helped much, either. The exposed skin above the bandages was swollen and red.

Daniel rested against the cave wall as she untied his hand from the makeshift sling over his chest and took his jacket off for him. She studied him closely; deep shadows encircled his eyes, his cheekbones were a little flushed. "Are you okay to sit up for a minute?"

Daniel nodded in response, and tried to pull himself away from the wall.

Jack quickly moved to help. "Here buddy," he said in a soft, worried voice and positioned himself behind Daniel. He gently supported the younger man's back, holding him up straight. Daniel gratefully leaned into Jack�s grip, dropping his head back to rest in the hollow of Jack�s shoulder.

Taking a pair of scissors from the medkit, Sam cut away the old bandages, easing them carefully away from the raw gashes. She decided against using the antiseptic, not wanting to put Daniel, or herself, through that again. She just hoped they would be home soon, with Daniel tucked up in the infirmary pumped full of medication and painkillers. Unrolling fresh bandages, she wrapped them tightly over the angry looking wounds.

"Daniel, I think you should lie down and rest for a while," Sam said, placing a hand against his forehead to find it too warm. He was running a fever as infection began to set in. Daniel�s body was trembling hard enough for the tremors to reverberate through Jack.

"No, later," Daniel whispered, wanting to keep up the good rapport he had established with Lasus.

"Daniel..." Jack said in soft, but firm warning tone. He and Sam exchanged a glance before Sam rummaged through the medkit again.

Sam picked up the last dose of morphine and held it up so Daniel could see it. "Do you need this?"

Daniel gazed at the medication � he didn�t want to take it yet, but the pain had reached near-intolerable limits. He didn�t think it was possible, but unbelievably, it was increasing in intensity, his muscles were starting to spasm from his efforts to stay upright, and, for all he knew, the effects of the venom. Closing his eyes for a moment, he nodded, hoping with a quiet desperation that the drug would at least give him the strength to last till they got to the Stargate.

Sam touched Daniel�s too-warm face in sympathy, then swiped a dab of antiseptic on his shoulder, taking care to place the needle away from the faintly bruised skin from the previous injections.

As she carefully administered the drug, Jack met Sam's gaze once more, mutual fear for their friend and teammate growing.

*****

The team sat around a small cooking fire in Lasus�s cave. Sam stared at what was roasting over the flames - some kind of animal that had five legs where it clearly should have had only four.

Lasus came to join them and handed each a cup containing a bitter, sharp-smelling beverage.

Jack sniffed it, scrunching his nose and jerking his head back as the smell nearly singed his nostrils.

"It is made partially from the poison of the plokami. When countered with the juice of one of the other plants it is quite harmless other than its pleasing intoxicating effects," Lasus explained. "We will drink in celebration of our new alliance."

Daniel leaned against Jack's shoulder, too exhausted to sit fully upright and translated the man's words, still peering at the liquid.

Jack gave Lasus a look, and then reached over and plucked the cup out of Daniel's hand.

Daniel blinked at him, surprised.

"I think you have enough of that crap in your system already," Jack told him, patting Daniel's arm lightly and Daniel nodded slowly in agreement.

The others raised their glasses in response to Lasus' toast, as Jack, Sam and Teal�c pretended to drink.

"So Daniel, where exactly do we send these people?" Jack asked.

"Well, probably anywhere would be an improvement. I'm sure we can find a nice little uninhabited planet for them."

"Oh, probably," Jack agreed. "I can't wait to see the look on Hammond's face when we bring this bunch through." He scratched at the skin around the bandaged scrapes and cuts on his arms.

"We will head for the great circle at the first break of daylight," Lasus told Daniel. "My people will get what they need for the journey as we wait out the night. It is near dark, the plokami and animals are most active when it is dark. It is a very difficult walk to the circle and many of my people will have trouble making the journey even in the daylight."

Daniel looked down for a moment, his heart sinking, God, one more night of this? He found himself futilely wishing that he had waited till morning to take the morphine.

He translated what Lasus had said, hoping that he could actually hang in there till morning. The morphine was finally taking the edge off the excruciating pain, but every movement, every breath was still difficult. His lungs felt like they were tied in knots. The charred smell of the meat on the fire, the bitter odor of the drink Lasus had served only heightened the constant waves of nausea assailing him. Daniel�s limbs were heavy from the drug, his eyelids weighed a ton. He focused on the flames.

Stay awake just a little longer, we�re halfway home, he told himself.

"Tell me of your world," Lasus said to Daniel, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Well, it is much nicer than this one, and we do not have any plokami," the young archaeologist said with an exhausted smile. "You would be welcomed among our people. Some of you can be helped by our healers; but even if you cannot be healed, we will find a place for you to live in peace and comfort."

"The people of the city can learn much from your people."

"They could also learn much from you and your people, Lasus. You take in refugees from the city and care for them as though you were your own. Were you left here as a baby?"

Lasus shook his head. "I lived in the city until I was twelve years old. There was a fire in our home. I tried to pull one of my sisters from the house, but a beam from the ceiling fell on us. My sister died and I was burned. When they realized I would not die and that I would recover from my injuries, it was decided I was no longer whole and must be banished." The scarred man looked into the flames, into vistas of pain and loss that Daniel could only guess at.

"My mother decided to hide me, unable to bear losing another child," he continued. "She told everyone that she had disposed of me, but she hid me for three months. Hid me from her husband and her other 'whole' children. My father was the second in line to the high leadership of the city, so this was very difficult for her. Eventually we were found out and she was sent down here with me for her crime. She died less than two fortnights later. Not many live very long here, either the creatures of the land kills them or the very air does. One of my other sisters left this weapon for me," he indicated the soldiers' crossbow they had seen earlier. "She also leaves food and medicine at the doorway for us. It has helped aid in our survival a great deal."

Daniel translated this for the others, then asked Lasus, "What happened here? What made this world the way it is? Has the city always been there?"

"This entire world was once very beautiful, a long time ago. From the legends, it is said that very powerful gods came in and destroyed this world, punishing the people for their sins and imperfections. The land was ruined, fire and poison fell from the sky, which made it deadly even to breathe the air. It nearly killed all of the people. The survivors built the city and placed the dome over it. It took them a great many years to do it. The poison lingered still and many of the people were born damaged. Outside the dome, the land grew wild, strange creatures came to be. Fearing the wrath of gods again, the people of the city sent away all their unwhole offspring. Not having the heart to kill them," Lasus sneered, "they sent them here, outside, to breathe in the poison and to fend off the animals and the dangers of the forests."

"Radiation, or chemical warfare from the Goa'uld," Daniel said to his teammates. "They must have misunderstood what the Goa'uld were. The Goa'uld want only perfect hosts, so those people must have thought the Goa'uld were punishing them for not being perfect enough when they attacked and nearly destroyed the planet," he said, talking more to himself than to his friends.

The other three looked at him questioningly. Lasus looked down into his cup, lost in his thoughts and memories.

"Planet radiated... that's what caused all this..." Daniel whispered, his voice fading. His head dropped onto Jack's shoulder, his body slumping heavily against Jack.

Jack eased Daniel down onto his back, the younger man too exhausted to put up much resistance. "Come on buddy, time to get some rest."

"No, can�t... not yet..." Daniel murmured, still protesting, even though he was half-conscious.

Jack very gently took off Daniel's glasses and placed the frames beside him. "Rest, Danny," he told his friend in a firm, no room for argument voice. "We can manage on our own for a while. We'll play charades or something."

Despite his protests, Daniel's eyes slowly closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

Lasus stood, and went over to the end of the cave. Coming back, he handed Jack a blanket. Jack smiled in thanks and laid the blanket over Daniel's sleeping form, tucking it around him.

*****

Jack, Teal'c and Sam watched through the open door of the cave as Lasus and his people bustled about, packing up their few worldly possessions. The group of people was small, maybe twenty to twenty-five, altogether.

The three were bone-tired, and Daniel's labored breathing was a constant weight on their minds, making sleep next to impossible. None of them wanted to ask whether they thought Daniel would survive the trip, or even survive the night, but all three wondered and worried.

Finally morning came and faint light trickled inside the cave. Lasus reappeared and spoke to them.

Jack looked up from his vigil beside his friend, surprised. "Hi, how's it going?" he tried, smiling at the man. Daniel was still sleeping deeply beside him. Hating to rouse him again, Jack lightly patted at Daniel's face. "Come on buddy, I think we're ready to roll."

Daniel stirred, turning his face away. He wanted to sleep more, this was better, it didn't hurt so much anymore... He could hear Jack calling his name as if from far away, calling him through the fog drifting in his head.

"Daniel," Jack took his friend's chin in his hand, shaking him more firmly. "Come on, Danny, time to get going."

Daniel slowly opened his eyes, and squinted up at Jack, then at a big scarred man, who was staring at him questioningly. He had to think for a moment to remember who the man was.

Oh, right, still on the planet, still trying to get to the gate, he thought hazily. Jack was crouched beside him with an equally questioning and worried look on his face.

"Are your people ready, Lasus?" Daniel asked, slurring the words and Lasus was wavering in and out of focus. He looked around for his glasses and nodded with bleary appreciation when Jack handed them to him.

"We are ready, yes," Lasus replied. "And are you well enough to travel? I have seen the poison of the plokami kill men much larger than you, by now."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Lasus, but I have no intentions of dying just yet," Daniel answered, speaking slowly, still drowsy from the after-effects of the morphine.

Lasus tipped his head down, "I meant no disrespect, only concern. You are doing us a great favor, we hope. We are placing our trust greatly in you, abandoning the only home we know."

"I know Lasus," Daniel said, struggling to clear his head - he and his teammates weren't home yet. "And, you can trust us. We are men of honor, as well. I promise you, we will repay your kindness."

Lasus gazed at him, then gave Daniel a short nod, accepting both his answer and his word. "Shall we take our leave now?" he asked and offered the injured, younger man a hand to help him up.

*****

As the group prepared to leave the village for the last time, a few of the men passed around torches that had been dipped in some flammable material before being lit to every other man to wave at the plokami as they passed.

Jack emerged from Lasus�s cave, supporting a still woozy Daniel, each of his feet tripping over the other as he tried to keep in step with Jack. Sam was right on their heels, catching at Daniel�s waist every time he stumbled, fussing over him.

"I am able to assist Daniel Jackson," Teal�c said, as they came up to him. He had been waiting outside the cave, assisting the people wherever he could.

"No, we�re fine," Jack said, darting a quick glance at his wounded teammate leaning heavily against him. Since being pulled out of that pit, Jack hadn�t let Daniel out of his sight. "Teal�c, you get one of those torches and take point. Carter, get one, too, take six and keep an eye on Daniel�s back."

Finally, the group was ready. Lasus took the lead, striding out of the village without a backward glance. The tribe and SG-1 headed into the wilderness, walking in two�s. Some of the villagers paused to look back at the homes they were leaving behind. All were silent, pensive, lost in their thoughts and the fear and anticipation of what was awaiting them.

"Man, I'll be glad to see the end of this place! Remind me never to complain about nice ordinary trees again!" Jack exclaimed, waving his hand at the blackened trunks as they climbed up yet another slick hill, dodging the plokami and the loose ground that had a common, if unpredictable tendency to disappear right under their feet.

The hill they trudged through had a narrow, nearly overgrown path, forcing them to walk single-file. The village men swung their torches at the ever-present tentacles, keeping them at bay just long enough to let the others in the party pass. Lasus paused every now and again to blast some of them into sticky pieces with his crossbow.

Daniel stumbled determinedly along after Jack, his good arm hooked through a side strap on Jack's pack, for support. Sam stayed close behind, reaching out to steady him whenever he tripped. Teal�c diligently cleared the way for his friends, waving his torch at the creatures, kicking away stones and breaking off branches.

The going was slow, through an endless tangle of jungle, making them wonder how Lasus had ever found the gate in the first place.

Daniel felt his legs falter, the muscles cramping and spasming, forcing him to a stop. He stared up at the steep slope in dismay, breathing hard, trying to pull some air into his lungs. It can't be that much further, he thought with a surge of despair.

Jack felt the tug on his pack as Daniel stopped walking. Jack turned, searching Daniel�s face. "You gonna make it up there, Danny?" he asked, worried, thinking of how difficult it would be to safely carry his wounded friend up the incline.

Daniel nodded, determined, his eyes still on the slope, not wanting to waste any energy on speaking.

Lasus looked back at Daniel with concern, then turned back toward the hill, knowing they couldn't waste any time - the stranger wasn't going to last much longer.

SG-1, along with the group, continued stumbling and slipping on the loose and slick ground. The path was still narrow, branches brushed against their shoulders and in their faces as they passed.

At the halfway point, the slope had widened slightly, but still hadn't improved much. Jack constantly glanced over his shoulder, keeping an eye on his friend's condition.

Hearing Daniel moan softly in between ragged breaths, Jack looked back again to see that the archaeologist was nearly unconscious on his feet, his head down, walking on autopilot.

Jack spotted a stable looking outcropping of rock and called a time-out. Daniel's pain-wracked gasps were scaring him. He pulled Daniel over to the side, away from the others. Daniel jumped at his touch, startled out of his near delirium, his legs giving way at the unexpected contact. Jack helped him to sit on one of the rocks and held him upright.

"Jack, no - have to keep going..." Daniel rasped out.

"We're all taking a breather. I gotta catch my breath too," Jack told him firmly. So, it was a little white lie. Jack had plenty of those to his credit, so he could stand one more. And besides, some of the others, particularly the man with the withered leg, looked grateful for the break.

Daniel nodded, closing his eyes. His lips were now decidedly blue-tinged. Definitely not a good sign, Jack worried.

Looking down, then scrubbing a hand through his hair, Jack stammered, "Uh, listen, Daniel � I, ah, just wanted to tell you that I... uh, that I shouldn't have come down on you like that... before. None of this was your fault, okay? I was being a jerk... and I'm... sorry. You did good here. You bailed us out," he told the younger man, the words coming out in an awkward jumble.

Daniel fought to get his breathing under control, concentrated on pulling some air into his aching lungs. Catching the last half of what Jack was saying to him, he opened his eyes. Did Jack just apologize to him? Wonders never cease, Daniel thought. "'S-okay," he whispered, waving it off, but at the same time, he was absurdly grateful for Jack's words. "'Preciate you saying that, though."

"So, you and me, we�re okay, right?" Jack said. "I know you and I haven�t been on the best of terms lately, but-" Jack broke off, looking away embarrassed. "I mean, I do have the highest... respect for your... expertise. You�re a good man and I�m proud to have you on my team and... as my friend."

"Thanks Jack..." Daniel paused to swallow the sudden lump in his throat, "and yeah... we�re okay," he smiled fleetingly. "Let's keep going, all right?" He urgently locked his eyes on Jack's.

Jack could read the meaning all too well. He touched Daniel's face, nodding in understanding, his own fear all too clearly evident in his dark eyes. He helped Daniel get back to his feet.

As the procession continued, the path continually widened, allowing the group to spread out and help the weaker members of Lasus�s tribe. The underbrush was thinner, revealing the groups of plokami rustling about. Lasus stopped to blast a cluster that waved their deadly tentacles in the group's direction. Jack stared at the things, his eyes widening, getting his first close look at the entire creature.

Teal'c stopped to pick up and carry the woman with the twisted spine. She had stumbled next to him, no longer able to keep up.

Jack and Sam were half-carrying Daniel at this point, supporting his weight between the two of them. Lasus noticed them beginning to tire. He handed his crossbow to Tassos, then nodding towards Daniel, he said in his own tongue, "I will carry this one now, he has the heart and courage of a warrior. Most men his size would be dead by now."

Jack couldn�t understand the man�s words, but got his meaning. Lasus was looking at Daniel with a mingled expression of respect and concern. Jack allowed the large man to pull a half-conscious Daniel from his grip as Sam stepped back. Lasus placed an arm around Daniel�s shoulders and stooped to reach behind his legs, picking him up and easily carrying the six-foot tall Daniel in his arms.

Daniel groaned softly as his wounds protested the shift in positions. Then, the terrible pain eased, and Daniel allowed himself to relax in the man�s grip, his head dropping to rest against Lasus�s shoulder.

*****

Twin staircases led to a platform where the Stargate perched, the stone circle laced with webs and half-obscured by thick vegetation clustering around it. Rows of crumbling low-relief figures marched along the sides of the platform, as if leading the way. One side of the platform was sheared off, plant life poked up in between the rubble and cracks. A tall, deteriorated monolith with a depiction of an incised guardian figure with four wings gracing the figure�s back, an elaborate headdress crowning its head, sat in the center of a stone-slab plaza, guarding the way to the gate. An enormous pair of crumbling stone winged bulls were placed on either side.

Half-toppled pillars flanked the entrance to the plaza. One pillar was decorated with a glazed image of a pair of winged human-headed lions and the other pillar showed the procession of Persian-type guards. Their once brightly colored details were faded to dulled greys and pastels. The lintel had collapsed and lay broken between the pillars.

Lining the inside of the platform were rows of elegantly fluted columns crowned with the stylized animal heads of bulls, griffins and lions. Some of the columns were sheared off, their majestic heads cruelly decapitated by time and war.

The DHD, covered in a blanket of moss, sat in front of the broken platform. Groups of plokami rustled about, waving and snapping their tentacles, sensing the movement of the approaching group. Some of the creatures moved by the gate, their tentacles winding and wrapping around the great circle itself, their ridges audibly scraping against the naquaada.

Lasus carefully set Daniel on his feet again and lightly tapped at the injured man's face, rousing him. Taking Daniel's chin in his scarred hand, Lasus lifted Daniel's face up so he could see the Stargate. "Look, the stone circle. It is here, as I told you."

Daniel blinked at it with bleary eyes. He thought he had never been happier to see a Stargate in his life.

Lasus's group stood staring at the gate and the ruins, awe-struck. Lasus uttered a few commands to his men and Tassos and the other men pulled out skeins of the flammable material they had used to light the torches. They tossed the liquid onto the ground and at clusters of the plokami, then pressed the torches against the liquid.

The flames instantly caught, racing and dancing along the stones, finding the creatures. They erupted into flames, writhing and twisting horrifically, the deadly tentacles flailing and ripping at each other, futilely trying to escape.

Lasus eased Daniel to the ground, propping his back against the ancient base of the pillar with the delicately-painted lion figures. He crouched in front of him to bring his face level with Daniel's. "You are a very determined man. I did not expect you to last the journey here, and I hoped that your woman would come to be mine," Lasus said, smiling and his burned face became handsome.

Daniel returned the man's smile. "I think she would put up a pretty big fight first."

"That she would," Lasus agreed. "What do we do now?"

"Now we take you home," Daniel said, gazing over at the Stargate and the still burning plaza. The creatures were now withered to blackened husks on the decayed stone. The fire flickered around the vegetation at the edges of the stones, cleansing in its wake. Smoke trailed lazily over the monolith, casting the graven guardian in mystery.

Daniel's thoughts drifted and he realized the guardian resembled the one at the gate to Pasagadae, just outside of Cyrus� palace in Fars. He wondered about those people who had so carefully constructed this once impressive shrine to the gate, and to the home they had to leave behind so long ago. It must have been so incredibly beautiful at one time.

God, I'm so tired,Daniel thought, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"How you holding out, Danny?" Jack asked, crouching beside his friend, startling him.

Daniel gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod, his half-closed eyes still focused on the monolith.

Jack turned to watch Teal�c and Sam each grab a torch and make their way to the DHD, their path had nearly been cleared by the flames. Sam ran up to the DHD, with her heart in her throat. She pushed away the moss, praying under her breath. Would it work? Would the Gate? She prayed that no one in the domed city was using their gate at the same time. Please, whatever gods there may be in this place....

Teal�c stayed close, watching out for any surviving creatures.

Sam punched the first six chevrons, hit the GDO, and triggered the last chevron.

The vortex promptly spewed out with a spectacular whoosh, hurling out its ball of white-blue energy, then pulling back sharply to settle into the shimmering pool of the event horizon. The small group screamed, clutching at each other, stumbling backwards.

Sam let the breath out in relief.

"Carter, go on ahead and warn SGC we're coming and tell them to get Janet�s medical team in there stat!" Jack called over to her.

"Yes, sir. Daniel - he won't-" she choked off the words she had been about to speak, "please hurry, sir."

"We're right behind you. Go!" Jack ordered, already turning back to Daniel.

Sam nodded, gave Daniel a quick, worried look, hoping it wouldn�t be the last time she saw him alive, then ran up the stairs and rushed through the gate.

Teal�c came back over to Jack and Daniel, looking past Jack to peer worriedly at Daniel.

Jack saw that Daniel had slumped over to one side, having slid off the pillar, onto the ground. Daniel was very still except for the shallow, short rise and fall of his chest.

Jack felt a cold wave of fear rush through him. As Jack started pulling him up, grasping him around his shoulders, Daniel caught at Jack's arm with an effort, his eyes half-open and unfocused. When Daniel spoke, his words were slurred.

"Wait, you... you're almost... home?"

"We're almost home," Jack told him firmly, not liking the sound of that. "We're right at the gate, buddy, remember? Almost there."

"That's... good..." Daniel breathed out, his voice fading and a ghost of a smile passing over his bluish lips, his expression almost serene. His grip on Jack relaxed. Daniel realized that his pain was almost gone. They were safe, he could rest now and he was so tired....

Daniel's eyes rolled back, his eyelids fluttering closed. His head dropped back limply, the short hair nearly brushing the ground, and his ragged breathing stopped.

Jack stared at the still form in his arms, in disbelief. "Goddamnit, Danny, NO! Don't do this - stay with us!"

He grabbed Daniel around his shoulders and under his knees, picking him up like Lasus had earlier. Adrenaline and fear gave Jack an extra surge of strength as he ran with Daniel cradled in his arms to the gate.

Teal'c raced beside him, his face alarmed, "O'Neill! Is Daniel Jackson-"

Jack called to Teal'c, "Help these people through!" Not wasting any time on explanations, he disappeared into the pool.

Teal�c stared at the wormhole for a moment, worry for his friend stamped on his face, and then followed the orders given him by O�Neill � assist Lasus�s people through the gate.

*****

Jack stumbled through the other side, onto the ramp, staggering under Daniel's dead weight. Daniel�s head lolled back, his legs dangling limply.

"He's not breathing!" Jack gasped, panting as he ran down the ramp. Fraiser was there, waiting with her staff - thank God, he thought. Jack deposited Daniel onto the waiting gurney, his muscles trembling with over-exertion.

Janet and her team instantly swarmed over the unconscious man. She felt for a pulse, and finding nothing, she shook her head. "No pulse, charge paddles!"

One of the medics tipped Daniel�s head back and placed a mask over his nose and mouth, squeezing the attached resuscitation bag, forcing air into his oxygen-starved lungs. His chest rose and fell in time with the medic�s motions.

Another medic quickly zipped open Daniel�s jacket, shoved it off his shoulders and placed her hands in the middle of his torn chest, and began compressions. Janet hooked him up to the heart monitors, picked up the paddles and watched the screen as a third medic cut away the thick layers of bandages on Daniel's chest, working around the other woman�s hands.

"Clear!" Janet positioned the paddles over the archaeologist�s still body.

The medic performing the compressions stepped back and the bag was removed from Daniel�s face.

Janet applied the paddles to Daniel's chest. She discharged the defibrillator and his body convulsed from the shock.

The mask was quickly replaced over his mouth again, air forced into his lungs.

Janet held the paddles ready, watching the monitor intently.

Nothing.

She swore under her breath, moved to apply the paddles again. Then, the monitor flickered.

She dropped the paddles, feeling at Daniel's neck, but keeping her eye closely on the monitor. There it was, the slightest flutter of a pulse. The line on the monitor rose and fell slightly, showing the faint heartbeat.

"We've got a pulse! Let's go!" Janet shouted. They raced out of the gate room, the medics ran beside the gurney, the one still squeezing the bag, wheeling the equipment with them.

Sam raced behind them, her own heart thudding in fear for her friend. She hastily explained what had happened to them, pulling out the specimen containers as she tore along with the flurry of Janet, Daniel and medics.

*****

Jack reluctantly stayed behind in the gate room to help Teal�c with Lasus�s people.

The look on Hammond�s face was as priceless as Jack expected it to be, but in light of maybe losing Daniel, he wasn�t able to enjoy it much.

"Colonel � would you care to explain this?" Hammond stared open-mouthed at Jack.

"Well, sir," Jack started. ""I guess these people had enough of radiation, man-eating plants and three-headed animals and decided they wanted a change of scenery." Shaking his head at Hammond�s frown, he sighed, damn the stress was getting to him. "Sorry - actually, sir, these people helped us to a second gate on the planet � they would only take us to it if they could come with us. Considering the position we were in, we decided it was a reasonable request, sir."

Hammond nodded, watching the activity in the gateroom as the villagers kept coming through the wormhole. The scenario reminded him too much of that first mission to Chulak, where Jack�s team had returned with one newly allied Jaffa, and a gateroom full of terrified Chulakian refugees.

The first arrivals of this group stood close to each other, looking around wide-eyed with terror. The few children screamed, clutching at the adults, in shock from their journey through the cold wormhole to emerge into this new world of metal and strangers. A translator was quickly called in to try and reassure the dazed refugees.

"We tried to send a rescue team through to you when you failed to return on schedule, but the MALP revealed that the gate was heavily guarded. All our attempts to communicate went ignored. I couldn�t risk sending in another team," Hammond explained.

"Just as well, you wouldn�t have found us there anyway," Jack said, and explained about the jungle under the city.

Finally Teal�c emerged with Lasus and Tassos, the last of the villagers.

"Permission to go to the infirmary sir?" Jack asked, every muscle and nerve on edge in fear for Daniel. At Hammond�s nod, Jack and Teal�c took off out of the gateroom.

*****

They found Sam sitting quietly on a gurney close to the door, not far from where the medical staff were working on Daniel. Sam's forearm had been neatly cleaned and bandaged.

As they approached her gurney, Jack could see a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

"How are you doing?" he asked gently.

She nodded, swallowing hard, "I�m fine, but Daniel�s. . . he�s pretty bad � they had to shock him in the hallway again."

"Aw, hell," Jack said under his breath, leaning past her to see the rush of activity and medics surrounding Daniel. All he could see of his friend was his limp, tubes and tape covered hand lying on the white sheet.

"Yeah," she whispered, fighting off tears. The actual prospect of losing Daniel had never really hit her until now - he had been fighting so hard before. She had thought he'd be fine once they got him back home. The stress, pain and exhaustion of the past few days were overwhelming her, the tears very close now.

Jack pulled her into a hug, one as much to reassure himself as Sam. "He's going to be okay. Daniel's got more lives than a pack of tomcats, remember?"

Sam pulled in a sharp, shuddery breath and murmured against Jack's shoulder. "I sure hope so."

*****

Jack's numerous cuts were tended as they watched Lasus's bewildered people being led into the infirmary. The newly assigned translator talked to them, trying to calm and reassure the tribe. The children were still crying, clinging terrified to the adults.

Daniel had since been rushed off for surgery. Janet had come over long enough to tell his team that they should clear out of the infirmary for the next couple of hours and get themselves something to eat. They were going to be facing a long day and even longer night.

Jack, Sam and Teal�c made their way to the commissary, none of them had much appetite � their thoughts too filled with worry. They poked at their food, and tried to distract themselves by talking of old missions.

"I still think the best one, well, the first time he gave me grey hairs anyway, was when Daniel tried to make friends with one of those hairy camel things in our first mission to Abydos. He goes up to the thing, talking to it like its a lost puppy and feeds it chocolate. I guess we scared it when we came to see what the hell he was doing, and the stupid thing takes off. Daniel had somehow managed to get his foot tangled in its harness and the next thing you know, Danny�s body-surfing over the dunes of Abydos, dragged behind Clyde the mutant camel," Jack grinned, shaking his head at the memory. "I thought he was such a hopeless dweeb then." He looked down into his coffee mug. A lot of things had changed since that mission almost five years ago. It seemed like a lifetime.

They made their way silently back to the waiting area in the infirmary, having no idea if Daniel was even still alive.

Janet finally emerged, and spotting the exhausted team, she went over to them, pulling off her surgical mask to reveal her pale, drawn face. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles of fatigue.

The three watched her expectantly with bated breath.

"He's critical, but stable for now," she told them, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "That was cutting it pretty close, guys, we almost lost him there."

Jack nodded and sighed. "So what's the damage?"

"I had the venom analyzed � it�s from a species I�ve never encountered before. It's a highly toxic substance, affecting the entire system, causing an accelerated and irregular heartbeat, respiratory distress, extreme nausea and vomiting, myolsis - which is muscle cramping, neurotoxicity � damage to the nerve tissue, leading eventually to cardiorespiratory arrest. He's on a respirator now because he's still having trouble breathing on his own. He�s lost a lot of blood and the wounds caused by those things are deep and infected, so he's running a high fever. He's also extremely dehydrated and weak.

I had that 'medicine' they gave him analyzed as well, and it turns out to be a fairly effective anti-venin - without it, Daniel probably wouldn't have made it. I have no idea how or if the venom affected his mental function or how long he was oxygen-deprived. How long was he unconscious before you got him here?" she asked.

Jack looked confused. "About thirty seconds?"

Janet shook her head, "No, I mean before, after he had been attacked. How far apart were the periods when he regained consciousness? Was he lucid?"

"Janet, Daniel was awake and walking around through most of it. He was translating for us the whole time, and was the one who talked those people into helping us, getting us back here."

Janet looked at Sam, surprised. "He should have barely been able to walk in his condition, let alone be lucid enough to translate."

The three paused as her words sank in, fully realizing what Daniel had endured to get them home. Jack finally spoke. "I always knew Daniel was too stubborn for his own good, but this takes the prize," he said, a note of awe in his voice. "Can we see him now?"

Janet nodded, "In a few minutes. I want to keep all of you here overnight as well. Your blood tests show traces of radiation in your systems and you all have some of that venom in you, as well. All of the people from the planet have large amounts of background radiation in their systems too, but their bodies have mutated to adapt fairly well to it. I'll get the three of you set up close to Daniel's bed," she added, knowing that she would have a hard time keeping them away from him anyway.

*****

The three went up to the bed Daniel had been given. A nurse made some final adjustments to the many tubes and machines connected to him. The nurse stepped away from the bed, pulling the ceiling-track curtain closed, giving them some privacy.

Daniel was intubated, the oxygen line taped securely to his feverish face. A needle was inserted at the side of Daniel's neck and heart monitors were attached to the small patch of visible bare skin on his chest. Half of his neck and most of his torso were covered in thick bandages, a thin sheet pulled up to his waist. The left arm was bandaged from shoulder to elbow, its hand heavily encased in a glove of padding and gauze and propped up on a pillow.

Daniel looked very frail and very still under all that white.

Sam gently clasped the fingers on his good hand, careful not to disturb the IV. His fingers moved slightly, reacting to her touch. Jack went to his other side and lightly touched Daniel's hair. Daniel's eyes opened half-way and he gazed at each of them through his lashes.

Jack laid his hand on Daniel's head, very gently ruffling his hair and smiled at him, his eyes a little overly bright from emotion. "Hey, Danny. You know, I think you're up to life number seven by now, and I've got about 600 new grey hairs, thanks to this one."

Daniel's eyes shifted over to Jack, rested on his face. After a moment, the heavy lids drifted shut and he was gone again.

Janet came in to check on her patient, checking his respiration and temperature. She laid her hand against Daniel�s forehead. "His fever seems to be stabilizing and his color�s improving already." She gave the worried team a smile. "He�s going to be okay." She stood beside Jack, craning her neck to look him in the eye, "Now, I want you all to let him rest and try and get some sleep yourselves � your beds are over there," she ordered, pointing off to the right side of Daniel's bed.

"In a minute Janet, I think we just need to watch him breathe for a little while," Jack said, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

Janet nodded, understanding, and reached out to pat Jack�s arm. She had three chairs brought in beside Daniel�s bed.

*****

Later that night, Sam had finally drifted off, exhaustion overcoming her. Jack had to lead her half-asleep to the waiting bed and all but tuck her in, grinning to himself. She was too tired to even protest.

Teal'c went over to his own bed, and, sitting cross-legged on it, began his kelnoreem ritual.

Jack was feeling too wired to sleep, even after all that anti-radiation, anti-venom medication or whatever it was Janet had given him, and went back to Daniel's side to watch him sleep. Sitting down on the chair beside Daniel, he leaned his elbows on the edge of Daniel�s bed, sighed, then rested his forehead on his clasped fists.

Thinking solely from his military mindset, Jack sometimes forgot to fully appreciate Daniel�s importance to his team. In the last few missions, he had almost seemed like a nuisance to Jack, all too vocally getting in the way of Jack's decisions.

He remembered standing in the Eurondans bomb-racked, lushly decorated meeting room, and Daniel�s desperate argument with him, pleading for Jack to listen to him.

Jack had angrily said, "Do you even realize what they�re offering?"

Daniel had just stared at him, exasperated at that point, "But at what price?"

At what price, indeed. He had almost found that out. And, with the Enkarans, Daniel hadn�t even attempted to argue with him, he had just gone off on his own, "looking for other solutions."

Watching Daniel's still form, Jack realized that he needed Daniel to keep him grounded. Keep him from losing sight of the moral ramifications of their jobs. That every time they stepped through that gate, they were impacting and potentially changing untold numbers of lives and destinies.

In the grip of the constant threat of the Goa�uld and his sometimes cut and dried, black and white orders, it was all too easy to forget that, but Daniel was their reminder. A very urgent reminder. Daniel had summed it up himself, when he had first unlocked the gate: "The SGC may be the single most important human endeavor for the future of mankind."

He felt something brush against his forearm. Jack raised his head to see that Daniel had reached over and touched his arm, awake now and trying to get his attention. Daniel�s brow was creased in a little frown, and from the expression in his glazed and bruised-looking blue eyes, Jack realized Daniel was concerned for him.

Jack felt his heart wrench and smiled at his friend, catching Daniel's hand in his and clasping it in a gentle, two-handed grip. "Everything's okay, Danny. We're all home safe. Sam and Teal'c are resting and Lasus thinks he's died and gone to heaven. He's proposed to just about every woman on the base already."

Daniel's eyes crinkled in an attempt to smile around the tube. He shifted a little, wincing, causing the monitors to peep in protest.

"Aht! Stay still, buddy. You've got a million tubes and needles stuck in you. Are you in any pain? Do want me to get Doc?"

Daniel shook his head once, and tried a smile again.

"You know, Daniel, don't ever let anyone call you a geek again," Jack told him, clasping Daniel's hand tighter, admiration in his voice, "'cause you are one stubborn, tough son of a bitch."

Daniel raised his eyebrows and tried to shrug with his uninjured shoulder, modestly brushing off the somewhat left-handed compliment. Coming from Jack, this was probably the highest praise he could ever receive.

"Get some sleep, I'll be right here, okay?" Jack said softly as Daniel nodded, his eyes already closing again.

*****

"6:45 into the second period, Sakic breaking in on the right wing, Turek spins, blocks the shot, the puck nicks the post to Turek's left-"

"Yes! That�s in! Jack yelled, jumping to his feet. "That went IN!" He sat down again, grinning and took a sip from his bottle of beer. "You know, Sakic�s playing with a shoulder injury too. They�ve got this game."

They were holed up in the VIP suite. Lasus cheering along with Jack, staring at the television screen wonderingly, happily watching the Colorado Avalanches beat the St. Louis Blues. Jack figured Lasus would have watched Sesame Street with equal enthusiasm, but still, he made a great hockey buddy.

He motioned to Lasus to try his own beer. Jack had bribed the on-duty night guard to get a couple of six-packs before coming to base. One pack was for the guard for later, the other one for him. So he was breaking more than a few rules, what were they going to do, court-martial him over a couple of beers? He figured after this last mission, no one was going to pay much attention anyway.

Jack took another drag from his bottle, and let out an exaggerated, "Ahhh."

Lasus kept a wary eye on Jack and took a tentative sip. Swallowing, his eyes widened and his mouth curled in a surprised smile of pleasure. He raised the bottle to his lips again and took a deep swig, nearly finishing the bottle.

"Hey, hey!" Jack said. "Easy on that � you�re just a beginner, remember?"

Lasus stopped drinking for a moment to grin at Jack.

Jack smiled, clinking his own bottle against Lasus�s. "Beats the hell out of tentacle juice, doesn�t it?"

*****

Four days later, Daniel was well on the road to recovery. He was still very uncomfortable and in pain, but was off the respirator and breathing on his own. He needed only the nasal cannula to assist his still-aching lungs and was also finally alert enough to carry on a conversation without falling asleep after two sentences. Sam sat on the edge of Daniel's bed updating him on the status of their refugees.

"We�ve found an excellent planet to send the villagers to � P6X 5C6 - it�s small, uninhabited, densely forested and with lots of clean running water. They should adapt in no time," Sam was telling him. "Most of them declined any medical treatment for their afflictions, so they should be ready to be transported within the next two days. SG-3 is going to accompany them and help them get set up."

"That�s good," Daniel said, smiling slightly, then shifted on the mattress, wincing at the motion. He was still more covered in bandages than not, and as the wounds healed, they pulled and itched.

Sam stood and helped adjust the pillows under his head, then propped up his bandaged hand. She handed him the cup of crushed ice sitting on the table beside the bed. "Better?" she asked.

He nodded. "Thank you," he said, crunching on the ice as Sam sat down on the bed again.

Jack entered the infirmary and strode up to Daniel's bed. "Hey, kids, how's it going?"

Daniel shifted again, and rubbed lightly at the bandage on his chest "Hi, Jack."

"I've got a couple of visitors for you, now that you look like you're up to it." Jack smirked and motioned to someone out of sight in the hallway.

Lasus, along with Dasha, came in. Teal'c followed and moved to stand near the head of Daniel's bed, tipping his head in greeting to his friend.

"They've been asking for you, wondering how you were doing," Jack told Daniel.

Lasus and Dasha came no closer to the bed, eyes wide and staring in alarm at all the tubes, beeping monitors, needles, IVs and oxygen lines hooked up to Daniel.

"Hello Lasus, Dasha, it is good to see you," Daniel said, easily switching to the Greek variant and smiled reassuringly at the two. Careful of the IV line on his hand, he waved for them to come closer. "It's all right - it is still me under all this. How are you and your people doing?"

Lasus warily approached Daniel's bed, keeping a cautious eye on all that... stuff - especially the little creatures around him that made soft noises. "We are doing very well, thank you," he said after a moment. "And you are looking much better - even with all this 'technology' on you." Lasus jerked his head at the monitors and tubes. "Your people are most kind. We have seen... pictures on a... box? Of what our new home looks like. I believe my people will be very happy there."

Daniel smiled again. Hammond must have allowed Lasus to watch the MALP's transmission, giving him and the refugees an idea of where they would be sent.

"That is wonderful, Lasus. I know you will have a good life there and we will do everything we can to help your people get settled."

"How can we ever repay you for this kindness?" Lasus asked.

"You already did, when you helped us return home."

"But it is not enough. You and your tribe must come to our new home when you are well, and my people will have a great feast in your honor," Lasus said, waving his arm to include Jack, Teal'c and Sam, as well.

"We would be honored, Lasus. Thank you."

Lasus whispered something to Dasha who was standing shyly behind the much larger man, listening quietly. She stepped forward, and, blushing, handed Sam a small necklace of elaborately carved wooden beads.

Sam took the necklace. "Wow, thank you! It's beautiful," she said, smiling at Dasha, as Daniel translated for her.

Dasha handed Jack and Teal'c each a delicately carved wooden cup. In Daniel's uninjured hand, she placed a small abstractly carved replica of the winged guardian at the Stargate.

"Thank you, Dasha," he said, admiring it, then placed the carving in his lap to take her hand in his for a moment, "Did you make these?"

She nodded, blushing again.

"You are a very talented artist as well as a healer," Daniel told her, and was treated to one of Dasha's startlingly radiant smiles in response.

"You must bring - 'beer,'" Lasus broke in, hesitating on the foreign word, "and...�hock-key� when you come."

Daniel's gaze darted in the colonel's direction. "Jack?"

"Daniel?" Jack frowned, catching only the words 'beer' and �hockey� in the midst of whatever Daniel and Lasus had just been talking about.

"You gave him beer?"

"Oh - yeah! He loves the stuff and I couldn't get him drunk if I tried," Jack grinned, then shuffled his feet as Sam turned to stare at him. Teal'c cocked his head interestedly, watching Jack.

"Not that I... have... tried - I mean, I only gave him a couple and we're all off-duty anyway. I wanted to keep up the diplomatic relations for you. Oh, leave me alone..."

*****

Epilogue

"Are you certain you want to do this, Lasus?" Daniel asked, looking up at the imposing man from the wheelchair in which he�d been brought to the gateroom. Even though over a week had passed, Daniel still felt alarmingly weak, and all his various stitches pulled and twinged with even the slightest of movements. It had taken all his persuasive and negotiating abilities to convince Janet to allow him to leave the infirmary long enough to see the �exiles� off, and while he knew he wasn�t yet up to the task of staying upright for very long, he was determined to see this mission through to the very end.

Lasus glanced around the gate room, at Tassos, Dasha, and then at the numerous packs filled with supplies and food that had been placed at the bottom of the ramp. He smiled at Daniel and raised his eyebrows. "It is somewhat late to ask me that question, is it not?"

Daniel returned the other man�s smile, began to shrug and stopped, wincing at the sharp pull on his collarbone. "It is never too late. You can change your mind anytime you want to." He directed his gaze to both Tassos and Dasha. "Any of you."

Tassos and Dasha moved a little closer to their leader in a display of unity. "We are certain," Tassos said in a soft, but determined voice, and Dasha nodded in agreement.

The other villagers had been transported to their new home world earlier that week. SG-3 had gone along to help them get settled. The former �rejects� from the domed city were eager to begin their new lives free of the radiation, and free of the fear and danger that had become such an unwelcome fact of their lives. SG-3 had reported that the people had already happily begun building their new dwellings and staking out terrain for their gardens. They were well on their way to feeling at home.

Lasus, Tassos and Dasha had journeyed to the planet to ensure that their people were well taken care of, and shortly thereafter had asked to be allowed to return to the SGC. Now it was time to grant Lasus�s surprising final request. He, Tassos and Dasha had come to a decision � they wanted to go back to their homeworld.

Crouching down in front of the wheelchair so the younger man could more easily meet his gaze, Lasus said, "Once again, we thank you for your help, Daniel. Thanks to you and the rest of your comrades, our people now have a chance to live happy, long lives."

"And what of you?" Daniel asked, his tired gaze meeting Lasus's piercing one. "Do not you, Tassos and Dasha also deserve that same chance?"

Lasus smiled again, only this time it was sad smile, full of purposeful resignation. "If we do not return, most of those banished from the city will not have any life, and a difficult life is better than no life at all, is it not? We are accustomed to the ways of the jungle. We will be fine."

Daniel weighed the man's words and saw the truth in them. He supposed he shouldn�t have expected any less from the valiant man, and Tassos and Dasha opting to return along with him only confirmed what Daniel knew to be their unconditional loyalty to their chosen leader.

And without Lasus and Tassos, who would see to the survival of the banished people of the domed city? The abandoned infants, children or those whose only crimes were a mistake of genetics or an unfortunate accident. Without Dasha, who would see to the injuries the very land inflicted upon them?

Daniel nodded in understanding and acceptance. "You are right. Any life is precious and must be protected. I only wish..." He let his voice fade, and troubled, he glanced down at his bandaged hand.

"You would do the same in my position," Lasus said, nodding.

"I suppose... yes, yes I would," Daniel had to admit. He shifted his position in the chair � his pain meds were wearing off, fatigue was overcoming him, but he could see this through. "You are a very honorable man, Lasus."

Lasus bowed his head, accepting the compliment. "As are you. I am indebted to you."

"No, we are even," Daniel said. "Besides, friends do not hold debts against one another."

Lasus tipped his head in agreement and straightened as General Hammond's voice came over the loudspeaker giving the order to prepare for embarkation. Momentarily, the chevrons for the address to the lost, savage world under the domed city began to alight and the gate to dial. Lasus strode to the waiting packs and placed two of them on his broad back. Tassos and Dasha followed suit.

When the wormhole engaged, casting the room in its cool, blue light � that was when the reality of returning home took hold for the three travelers. Each exchanged nervous glances, and their unity once more strengthened their resolve. And then they were ready to continue their journey. Each said their goodbyes to Jack, Sam and Teal'c with smiles and handshakes, their respect for one another communicated without a single word needing to be spoken.

Lasus then took Sam�s hand in his, and with great decorum, kissed her long fingers, talking melodiously in what Sam thought was a Greek poem or sonnet. She looked wide-eyed at Daniel for translation, but he shook his head, and mouthed, �never mind,� his cheeks faintly pink, a smile twitching at his lips.

Tassos bowed his head in a final farewell to Daniel, and Dasha stepped forward and lightly kissed Daniel�s bruised cheek. Before turning for the ramp, she gave him one of her heartbreakingly beautiful smiles, and a part of him grieved for the fate she had been determined.

Lasus then turned to Daniel one last time. "We will speak again soon, yes?"

"Yes, we will � very soon. Do not forget to check your watch," Daniel said, pointing to the watch he had given Lasus and which the man still wore on his thick wrist. Daniel had earlier explained to Lasus that when the number four on the calendar changed to five that would be the day the SGC would once again contact them.

"I shall look forward to speaking with you again," Lasus said.

"As will I," Daniel told him. "Good luck to you, Lasus. To all of you."

As the trio walked up the ramp, Dasha took Tassos's hand in a tight grip and all three stepped through the wormhole without hesitation or backward glances. SG-1 watched the wormhole long after the travelers had disappeared.

"Well," Jack breathed out, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "That�s that."

Teal'c nodded. "They have chosen a difficult path."

Do you think they�ll be okay, though?" Sam asked in a quiet voice, glancing at Daniel who was still looking at the now inactive gate, blinking tiredly, his expression inscrutable.

"Yeah. They will," he said after a long moment.

"Sooo... what was all that about?" Jack asked, leaning slightly in Daniel�s direction.

"What was what all about?" Daniel said, rubbing his eyes.

"That... Greek stuff."

"Ohhh... that. It was... you know..." Daniel tried to shrug again and hissed in a sharp breath.

"No... I don�t know," Jack said, "that�s why I was asking. And stop squirming around so much. Doc�ll have a fit if you pop any of those stitches."

Daniel shot Jack an irritated glance. "I�m not squirming. This chair is just... hard. And that �Greek stuff� was... just... goodbye stuff."

"Goodbye stuff," Jack echoed, then nodded, apparently satisfied with the simple explanation. "Ready to hit the road?"

Daniel nodded, slumping in the chair as much as his bandages and injuries allowed. Jack took hold of the handles of the chair, and careful not to jostle him too much, began to wheel him from the gateroom, Sam and Teal�c following close behind.

Lulled by the motion, Daniel closed his eyes, content to let his friend and his team take care of him for a while.

~ finis ~