Daniel tried to be as still and silent as possible while he waited beside Jack in the gate room.  Jack was not a happy camper.  His stiff posture and unsmiling face were proof of that. Daniel knew he was mostly at fault, although Teal’c hadn’t helped any when he voiced his doubts about his ability to function during the mission.

           

Daniel wished he hadn’t tricked Jack.  Pulling energy from the ethereal plane in order to activate the gate wasn’t a very nice thing to do.  Since he wouldn’t have been able to lock all seven chevrons, he had lied too.  He didn’t blame Jack for being upset.  But Daniel was far too aware of the passage of time.  Bra’tac’s life was slipping away like sand in an hourglass.  There wasn’t time to find an argument that would convince Jack.

           

Yet, as angry as Jack had been, he’d still supported Daniel when they discussed the mission with General Hammond.  Hammond wasn’t any more comfortable about Daniel’s involvement than Jack was.  But he trusted Jack.  When Jack said Daniel was Bra’tac and Rya’c’s only hope for rescue, Hammond trusted that, just as he trusted Jack to bring Daniel home safely.

           

Daniel hoped when he grew up this time, people would trust him as much as they trusted Jack.

           

The final chevron locked.  After the kawoosh settled, Jack bent and checked the flak jacket that the supply master had altered to fit Daniel.

           

“Are you sure about this?” Jack asked quietly.

           

Daniel wasn’t.  He’d had time to think about it, and it really was a crazy plan.  Too much of it hinged on Daniel’s ability to control energy, and control wasn’t one of his most consistent qualities.  But he didn’t want Jack to have any reason to abort the mission.  They had to save Bra’tac and Rya’c.          

           

Pretending a confidence he didn’t feel, Daniel nodded and proceeded up the ramp.  It was absurdly easy.  Maybe he had done something like this in his pre-ascension life, letting Jack think he had answers when he didn’t.  At the top of the ramp, he turned and gave Jack a little wave and a big smile.  Jack still looked worried.  Daniel stepped through the Stargate.

           

Despite the near-instantaneous method of travel, Daniel was strangely conscious of the entire journey.  He felt the way his energy dispersed through the wormhole and the way it coalesced as it neared the exit point.  Even before he reached the Erebus Stargate, he could feel the force field.  He was already absorbing the energy by the time he exited the wormhole.

           

The force field fizzled around him, momentarily bucking under his control.  But it was only energy.  It had neither thought nor will to direct it.  Daniel had both.  He pulled the force field’s energy into his body, combining it with his own.

           

At first, it was effortless.  But as he drew more and more energy into his body, he realized he had miscalculated.  In his ascended form, the influx of extra energy wasn’t a problem, and even descended, he could borrow energy from outside sources.  But the corporeal body had its limits.  It wasn’t made to handle this much energy.

           

He became hyper-aware.  Hot air irritated his skin.  The buzz of far-off mining equipment assaulted his ears.  His nose twitched at the stench of toxic gases, and his stomach dry-heaved.

           

“Too much,” he whispered as his senses were overwhelmed.  He closed in on himself, trying to shut out the flow of external stimuli.

           

Energy continued to course through him.  It zipped through his veins like electricity.  His body was losing cohesion.  The part of his brain that still thought itself ascended welcomed the transformation.  He heard the ethereal plane calling to him, inviting him back, tempting his love of discovery, using his curiosity against him.

           

Aware on a level deeper than the physical, he saw the shock grenade sail past him and felt its discharge pass harmlessly through his body.  He recoiled as others exited the gate, upsetting the delicate balance of energy around and in him.  Then he heard Jack’s voice, the one solid thing in a world suddenly gone unstable.

           

“Okay.  So.  That happened.  SG-3, secure these guys.  Then establish a perimeter.  Daniel?  Where’s Daniel?”

           

“JACK!”  Daniel wasn’t sure whether he thought it or screamed it or whispered it.  But it didn’t matter because Jack always heard. 

           

Daniel tried to merge the parts of himself into something concrete.  Hands closed over what would have been Daniel’s forearms.  Daniel didn’t know whether the hands touched skin or light.  The contact burned.  He shrieked.  The hands pulled away.

           

“No!  Oh, God, Jack, don’t!  Don’t let go.”

           

The touch returned.  Daniel tried not to flinch, but every part of his over-sensitive body fought it.

           

“Ow!  Ow!  Don’t let go.  Oh, God, it hurts, it hurts, it--  Jack, don’t let go.”

           

Arms carefully gathered him closer.  “I’ve got you.  Not letting go, Daniel.  Relax.  Breathe through it.”

           

Daniel panted in sobbing breaths, trying to gasp air into lungs that had already been stimulated beyond their capacity.  Jack’s hands were everywhere.  They molded the contours of Daniel’s physical body.  The pain of their contact helped Daniel remember the shape of who he was.  With that knowledge in place, he slowly siphoned the extra energy into other sources, feeding some to the naquadah in the gate, some to the underground volcanic systems, some to the air around him.  When it was done, he sagged into Jack’s support and uttered a very heartfelt swear word.

           

The arms around him tightened, and he burrowed his nose deeper in Jack’s uniform.

           

“How’re you doing?” Jack asked after a minute.  “Better?”

           

Daniel nodded.  The not-all-together feeling lingered, but it wasn’t too bad.  “I couldn’t do it alone,” he admitted, because he owed it to Jack and because it was the truth.

           

“That’s why we’re a team, buddy.”  Jack gave Daniel’s hair one last ruffle and drew back.  “You okay now?  Ready to head out?”

           

Daniel nodded again.  Jack picked up his P-90 from the ground.  Daniel bit his lip.  Even though Teal’c, Rak’nor, Jonas, and Sam were nearby watching their six and others from the SGC were covering them from farther away, it couldn’t have been easy for Jack to put his weapon down.

           

“Hey.”  Jack tapped the skin below Daniel’s teeth.  “What’s this for?”

           

“I’m sorry,” Daniel blurted out.  “I used to know how to do this stuff, but now I keep getting it all wrong.”

           

“So you need practice.”  Jack shrugged.  “Don’t worry it to death, Daniel.  You’re okay.  That’s the important part.  Maybe it wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it worked out.  So we’re good.”  Jack stood and flexed his knees.  “Come on, you gotta show us where this camp is.”

           

“There’s a bluff that overlooks the camp.”
           

“Sounds good.  Okay, you’re on point with me, but stick close.  Hear?”

           

“Yes, sir!”  Daniel saluted with a grin.  Jack always made him feel better.

           

Following Daniel’s lead, they found the bluff an hour later, and Jack declared it perfect.  The SG teams crawled to the edge on their stomachs and surveyed the area through binoculars.

           

“No sign of either Bra’tac or Rya’c,” Sam said after several minutes of searching.

           

Tucked against Jack’s left side, Daniel felt along the link he’d established with Rya’c.  “There.”  He pointed out a cluster of shelters in the camp below. 

           

“Penhall, trade,” Jack instructed the soldier on his right.  “Give me that thing.”  Jack exchanged his P-90 for Penhall’s sniper rifle.  He adjusted the scope and peered through it.  “Daniel, there’s two dozen tents down there.  Which one is it?”

           

Daniel dribbled a little more of his energy into the link and then retreated when he started to feel light-headed.  “I can’t tell.  I’m too far away.”

           

“Infiltration is the best option,” Teal’c said.  He indicated a guard pacing near the shelters.  “If we eliminate that guard position, we can create a blind spot.”

           

Jack grunted.  “We don’t have time to check all those tents.”

           

“There are too many guards for us to take out the whole camp with our current numbers,” Sam said.

           

“Jack, I can…”  Daniel trailed off when Jack shot him an exasperated look.

           

“I’m really beginning to dread those words coming out of your mouth, Daniel.” 

           

Daniel hunched his shoulders.  Jack studied the camp for another minute and then exhaled heavily.

           

“All right, let’s hear it.”

           

“Once I’m closer, I can figure out where Rya’c is.  I can make me and Teal’c invisible--”

           

“And me,” Rak’nor interrupted.

           

Daniel glanced toward Rak’nor and saw determination on the Jaffa’s face.  There would be no dissuading Rak’nor, and technically, he wasn’t under Jack’s command.  Daniel knew he could blend Teal’c’s energy with his own, but Rak’nor was a stranger.  In order to make all three of them invisible, Daniel would have to draw some power from outside himself.  It wouldn’t be easy, but he supposed he could do it.

           

“And Rak’nor,” Daniel added reluctantly.  “I can sneak us in, Jack.”

           

Jack shook his head.  His face was hard and blank.

           

“Jack--”

           

“No, Daniel.  We’ll think of something else.”

           

“But, Jack--”

           

Jack cut Daniel off by turning to Penhall and issuing a series of orders, most of which involved setting up camp for the night.  Penhall moved to obey.  Sam and Jonas continued to analyze the situation, quietly discussing options.  Teal’c and Rak’nor began to argue between themselves, Rak’nor urging action while Teal’c advised caution.  Jack slithered backward, rose, and marched off.

           

Daniel stared downward at the cluster of shelters and touched the link to Rya’c.  Emotion swirled within it, despair and rage and impending loneliness.  Daniel backed away from the cliff edge and went in search of Jack.

 

#

 

Even before he saw the kid, Jack knew it was Daniel.  Jack kept his gaze focused on the woods that surrounded them, but he scooted over, making room for Daniel on the log.  Daniel clambered up, wiggled into a comfortable position beside Jack, and gave his feet a little swing.  They made a thunk against the log.  God, the kid’s feet didn’t even touch the ground.

           

Daniel leaned against Jack’s side.  If any Jaffa snuck up on them, they’d be in trouble because there was no way Jack could get his weapon into play with Daniel there.  But he knew, the way he always seemed to know about Daniel, that the kid needed the contact, so he slung an arm around Daniel’s shoulders and tugged him closer.

           

Daniel gave a contented sigh.  They were deep enough in the forest that the sounds from the labor camp were distant, and Jack enjoyed the momentary silence.  Momentary because Daniel and quiet were not intimate companions.  Sure enough, the kid started talking a minute later.

           

“Remember how I told you I could sometimes see things that are coming?” Daniel said in his earnest, mini-adult tone.

           

“Yeah.”

           

“If we wait till morning, Bra’tac will be dead.”

           

Jack closed his eyes briefly.  He wanted to rail at Daniel and accuse him of making it up so that Jack would go along with his idiotic, dangerous plan, but he didn’t.  He knew Daniel too well.  He had heard the depth of sorrow in Daniel’s voice.

           

“I remember him, Jack,” Daniel continued with a hint of awe because memory was such a finicky thing for him.  “I like him.”

           

Jack had a genuine fondness for the old coot himself.  Their mutual respect was hard-earned.  To be this close to saving Bra’tac, only to fail in the end… 

           

Daniel’s hand sought out his.  “Jack, I know I look like a kid.  I know I act like a kid too.  Cuz I am a kid, mostly.  But I think you forget sometimes that there are parts of me that are still adult and parts of me that are still ascended.  I’m not who I was.”

           

“Daniel, you are so much like who you were, it’s scary.”

           

Sure, Daniel was a mishmash of kid, adult, human, and ascended, like some sort of crazy patchwork quilt, but the parts of him that mattered, the parts that Jack had seen dwindle over the years under the stress of the job, had returned with Daniel in full measure.  Curiosity, wonder at all things new, the insatiable desire to learn, empathy for others, all the things that were uniquely Daniel.  And more.  Daniel was happy, truly and completely happy, with a level of joy that belonged only to this version of Daniel.

           

“I’m not the same, Jack,” Daniel insisted.

           

“In every way that matters, you are.”  Jack twined the tiny fingers with his own.  “Trust me on this.  After all, I’m not the one with the shaky memory.”

           

Daniel’s shoulders lifted, then dropped.  “All right, fine.  But what I’m trying to say is that I can take care of myself.  You don’t need to watch out for me so much.”

           

“I think you forget sometimes,” Jack said, mimicking Daniel’s earlier words, “that we have always watched out for you.  Granted, we didn’t always succeed, but we always tried.  Deep down, you know that, Daniel.  Practically the first thing you told everybody when you came back, the one thing you knew with absolute certainty was that SG-1 takes care of you.”

           

“You do.”

           

“And you can’t ask me to change that.  I know I’m overprotective.  I try not to stifle you or what you can do, but it’s hard.  It’s real hard, Danny.  I’ve lost you so many damn times.”  A series of Daniel’s “deaths” flashed vividly before Jack’s eyes, and he had to clear his throat and blink rapidly when tears threatened.  “I promised you I was never letting you go again, and I meant it.”

           

Daniel nodded.  His fingers tightened around Jack’s.  He snuggled his head into Jack’s shoulder and managed several impressive minutes of silence.

           

Then he said quietly, “I made a promise too.”

           

Jack had the distinct impression he wasn’t going to like whatever Daniel had to say next.

           

“After Bra’tac was captured, I talked to him.  While I was ascended.  I promised him I’d come back.  That I’d bring help.  And I was going to, too.  Cuz I remembered--”  Daniel looked away and hunched his shoulders, muffling the sound of his voice, “I remembered how I promised to stay with you in Ba’al’s prison and how it wasn’t enough.  You needed me to do more, to bring help, and I couldn’t.  I hated it.  I didn’t let you see it, but I hated it so bad.  And when Teal’c was dying, I couldn’t help him either.”

           

Daniel trembled with the intensity of his anger and turned a pair of distraught eyes toward Jack.  “It wasn’t fair, Jack.  It wasn’t right!  The Others shouldn’t’ve hurted me for wanting to help.”

           

“No, they shouldn’t have,” Jack murmured, soothing Daniel with gentle strokes along his arm.

           

“Jack, please, please let me help Bra’tac.”  Daniel’s grip on his hand constricted, turning Jack’s fingers numb.  “I can do it.  I don’t want Bra’tac to die.  I promised him, Jack.  Please!  Don’t stop me like the Others did.”

           

Jack winced.  Comparing him to those good-for-nothing Ancients was playing dirty.  Except Daniel was so distressed, Jack was pretty sure Daniel hadn’t done it on purpose. 

           

“Ssh, calm down.  We’ll talk about it, okay?”

           

Daniel nodded eagerly, his eyes brightening with so much trust and love that Jack felt his throat close up again.  Daniel launched into a description of how he could make himself, Teal’c, and Rak’nor invisible while Jack listened and hoped to God he wouldn’t regret it.

 

#

 

They crept into the labor camp an hour after dark.  Sam zatted the guard as Teal’c had suggested and stayed hidden nearby to watch their six.  Daniel grasped Teal’c’s hand and waited for Rak’nor to settle his hand on Teal’c’s shoulder.  Then he made them all invisible.

           

As Daniel had feared, Rak’nor’s energy did not want to blend.  Every time it resisted, Daniel had to draw power from the ethereal plane to keep it in line.  In comparison, finding Bra’tac and Rya’c in one shelter out of many was easy.

           

By the time he’d guided them to the correct tent and separated their energies to make them visible, Daniel was exhausted.  He wondered if he looked as pale and drained as he felt.  Rya’c jumped up from his position beside Bra’tac and greeted Teal’c and Rak’nor.  While Teal’c and Rak’nor hailed a very weak Bra’tac, Daniel stumbled to Bra’tac’s side and collapsed into the place Rya’c had vacated.  Bra’tac turned his head so he could see Daniel and smiled faintly.

           

“Daniel Jackson,” he said in a thin, barely-there voice, “I knew you would come.”

           

Teal’c looked curiously from Bra’tac to Daniel.  “Master Bra’tac, how did you know this was Daniel Jackson?”

           

Bra’tac gave a light snort.  “Who else would it be?”

           

“He has said for months that Daniel Jackson would send help.”  Rya’c hung his head.  “I did not believe.”

           

Teal’c clasped the back of Rya’c’s neck and gently squeezed, absolving his son with one simple gesture.

           

“Have you come to show me the Great Path, Daniel Jackson?”

           

Teal’c stepped closer, holding up a vial.  “I have brought tretonin, Master Bra’tac.  There is enough for both of us.”

           

Bra’tac didn’t seem to notice as Teal’c administered the needed injection.  He continued to stare at Daniel, drinking in the sight of him.  No one other than Daniel could see the aura of white light that glowed around Bra’tac’s body.  The Jaffa master was so very, very close to ascension.  Daniel placed a hand on Bra’tac’s shoulder and poured energy into him, grounding Bra’tac to the physical. 

           

Then he leaned toward Bra’tac and whispered in the old man’s ear, “It is not yet your time, Bra’tac.  Stay.  Stay.”

           

Bra’tac exhaled.  The aura of ascension lifted.  He closed his eyes and slept.

           

Nausea gripped Daniel.  He broke away from Bra’tac with a gasp and breathed deeply to bring his stomach under control.  Someone touched his arm.  He turned and saw a woman crouched next to him, offering a cup.  He accepted it and gratefully drank the water it contained.  When he handed the cup back with a smile, he looked past her and saw another dozen Jaffa women, children, and men huddled in the shadowed corner.

           

“We’ve come to take you and Bra’tac away from this place,” Rak’nor said to Rya’c.

           

“It will take too much time for Master Bra’tac to regain his strength to walk.”

           

“Then we will carry him,” Teal’c said.

           

One of the children whimpered.  A woman drew the little boy toward her, turning his face to muffle another quiet cry against her chest.  Daniel could see the mark of whip along his exposed neck and knew they couldn’t leave.

           

“What about them?” Daniel asked, pointing.  He looked up at Teal’c and Rak’nor.  “What about all the others?”

           

Rak’nor looked away, avoiding Daniel’s gaze.  “There are too many.”

           

“They can fight,” Rya’c said eagerly.  There was a murmur of agreement from the shadows.

           

Uncertainty flickered over Teal’c’s face.  “And they will die.”

           

Rya’c straightened, proud and fierce.  “If they stay, they will die.”

           

Teal’c opened his mouth, but whether he meant to argue or concede, his words were preempted by Jack calling through the radios, “Teal’c, Daniel, you’ve been made.  Get out of there!  Teal’c!”

           

It all happened too fast.  Teal’c and Rak’nor spun to the door.  Several of the Jaffa in the corner leapt up and crowded forward.  Daniel stood as well, but he had moved too quickly.  Dizziness claimed him.  For a moment, everything went black.  He heard the stomp of boots as several guards entered.  One of them yelled, “Kree!”

           

When the dizziness passed, Daniel found himself behind a line of the Jaffa who’d been in the corner.  He heard a pained grunt from Teal’c and tried to push forward.  The line held firm.  In fact, it shifted, shuffling him farther away from the entrance.  A woman seized him from behind, her arm crossing over his chest and pulling him backward until he was tucked against her.  A hand came to rest in gentle warning over his mouth.

           

He knew they were trying to keep him safe.  But they didn’t understand what he could do.  Determined to help Teal’c, Daniel opened himself to the ethereal realm and the power available to him there.  Maybe if he raised his outer body temperature, the heat of his skin would burn the woman and she’d let go.

           

But his body had already had enough.  It had gone through too many fluctuations of its energy state without sufficient time to recover.  Since Daniel hadn’t paid attention to the warning signs of dizziness, nausea, and exhaustion, it resorted to a method of persuasion that couldn’t be ignored.  It shut down.

           

The female Jaffa cried out as the boy in her arms suddenly slumped into unconsciousness.  Daniel never heard the cry.

 

#

 

Jack hated it when a plan went to hell.  Yeah, he should be used to it by now, but he’d really been hoping for a break on this one.  From the labor camp below, the cracking of whips carried loudly to those who waited tensely on the bluff.  If there had been any doubt about the identity of the prisoners, it was dispelled minutes later when first Teal’c and then Rak’nor hollered at the pain.  Jack buried himself in the cold, unfeeling persona of the Colonel and continued to scan the area with his binoculars.  Where was Daniel?

           

Carter’s voice came through the radio.  “Sir?”

           

“Hold your position, Carter,” he radioed back.

           

Beside him, Jonas fidgeted.  He stifled whatever protest he might have made when Jack shot him a quelling glance.

           

“Carter, have you seen Daniel?” Jack asked after another minute of fruitless searching.

           

“No, sir.  I think he’s still inside the tent.”

           

Another howl from Teal’c brought Jonas to the bursting point.  “Are we just gonna sit here?” he demanded.

           

“YES!” Jack hissed back, the Colonel façade slipping momentarily into angry frustration.  “We’re just gonna sit here.  Until we can find another way in.”

           

Until they knew for sure what had happened to Daniel.  Until they had a better plan.  Until they had any plan.  Because their original snatch-and-grab was in complete shambles.

           

Where was Daniel?

 

An hour crept by.  Teal’c and Rak’nor fell silent, although the whipping continued for some time after that.  Finally the whipping stopped as well.  Carter maneuvered so she could see the two Jaffa and reported that both were alive, though unconscious, and that it looked as if the overseer intended to keep them manacled to the whipping posts for the night.  There was still no sign of Daniel.  Jack had tried the radio a couple times earlier and gotten no response.  Thanks to Daniel’s invisibility trick, they didn’t know which tent was the right one, and now the guards would be more alert.  As much as he wanted to order Carter to initiate a tent-by-tent search, it was too risky.

           

His radio crackled.  He grabbed it.  “Daniel?”

           

The radio spit out another crackle.  Then a voice whispered, “Colonel O’Neill, is that you?”

           

“Who is this?  Where’s Daniel?”

           

“It is Rya’c.  Daniel Jackson is here with us.  We heard you call for him, but we had to make sure it was safe before we contacted you.”

           

“Let me talk to Daniel.”

           

There was a long pause.  “He is sleeping, Colonel O’Neill.  After they took my father and Rak’nor, Daniel Jackson fainted.  He revived a few minutes later, but he was feverish and disorientated.  Lies’l fed him broth, and he fell asleep.  Lies’l says it is a good sleep, a healing one, and that you must not worry.  We will care for him.”

           

Jack shook his head, unsure whether he wanted to hug or strangle his kid more.  It sounded as if Daniel had overextended his abilities.  Daniel did not like to accept that he had limits.  The trouble was, Daniel’s limits kept changing.  Either time or practice enabled him to push past previous boundaries, and whatever seemed impossible or left him wiped out one week would suddenly be effortless a week later.  However, a lecture was obviously in order.  A mission was not the time to be testing those limits. 

           

Not that he intended to let Daniel through the gate ever again.

           

He took a deep breath and set aside his concern for Daniel.  “How’s Bra’tac?”

           

“He is also sleeping, but he is much improved.  My father gave him tretonin, and Daniel Jackson spoke to him, which comforted him.”  Rya’c hesitated and then asked in a voice that wavered, “What of my father?  And Rak’nor?  Do you know if they live still?”

           

“They’re a little tied up at the moment, but they’ll make it.”

           

“Colonel O’Neill, you must rescue them.”

           

“Working on it,” Jack promised.  “You keep Daniel safe, and I’ll figure out the rest.  Understood?”

           

Rya’c answered in the affirmative, though he sounded a bit skeptical.  Jack couldn’t blame him.  After all, look how well plan A had turned out…  Jack asked Rya’c to contact him when Daniel woke up, signed off, and ordered Carter back to the bluff.  If he was going to come up with a new plan in six hours, he’d need all the help he could get.

           

“Search patrol went off in that direction,” Carter reported at her return.  “They’re heading for the Stargate.”

           

“They don’t believe Teal’c and Rak’nor are working alone,” Jonas said.

           

Jack nodded.  He wouldn’t have believed that one either.  “I think it’s time for plan B.”

           

Carter lifted an eyebrow.  “We have a plan B?”

           

“Uh, no.  But it’s time for one.”

           

“Maybe a distraction?” Jonas offered.

           

Jack exchanged a glance with Carter.  Distractions were good.  Hmmm.  What could they blow up?

           

“Grenades?” Carter was obviously on the same wavelength.  Sometimes Jack suspected that Carter enjoyed blowing things up even more than he did.  He was surprised she suggested something so small.  She was usually one for the big explosion.  Asteroids.  Suns.  Ships.  Jack smiled slowly.

           

“Think bigger.”

           

Her forehead wrinkled.  “Claymores?”

           

“Much bigger,” Jack said, grinning up at the half-finished ship suspended above the labor camp.  Oh, yeah, distractions were good.

 

#

 

Daniel drifted in a state of half-waking, half-sleeping, a place where it was very easy for his energy to slip away to the ethereal plane.  Since his mind was still fuzzy from the aftereffects of trying to harness more energy than his body could handle, it took several minutes to realize that he wasn’t straying into the ethereal.  He felt solid.  He was anchored.  After another minute of hazy reflection, he figured out why.

           

He was curled on his side, pressed as close to Teal’c as he could get without actually being in Teal’c’s lap.  Teal’c’s thigh served as a pillow under Daniel’s left cheek.  Daniel’s arms encircled Teal’c’s knee, holding it to him like a teddy bear.  Even asleep, Daniel had known his need for a physical connection.  Teal’c had reinforced that connection by resting his hand on Daniel’s head.

           

As his mind began to clear, Daniel recognized the low rumble of Teal’c’s voice countered by the tired murmur of Bra’tac’s.

           

“When you spoke of weakness to Rya’c, you were not referring to the whipping,” Bra’tac said.  Teal’c’s silence confirmed the statement.  Bra’tac sighed.  “It has been difficult for both of us.”

           

For a minute, Teal’c didn’t reply.  Then he offered with uncharacteristic hesitancy, “I am not the man I was.”

           

“Is this what you tell Daniel Jackson?” Bra’tac asked, and Daniel thought he sounded disappointed.

           

“I do not understand.”

           

“You say Daniel Jackson has lost much of the knowledge and memories that he had as an adult.  Yet he has fulfilled the dream of many Jaffa and lived the path of enlightenment.  Do you tell him that because he has returned in a child’s body, he is no longer the man he was?”

           

Teal’c’s hand seemed to settle more firmly on Daniel’s head.  “He is still Daniel Jackson because his heart remains unchanged.  It does not matter what he lost.”

           

“And what is your loss, Teal’c, compared to his?  Only a symbiote that chained you to false gods.”

           

Bra’tac paused, breathing deeply as if he had pushed the limits of his strength.  Teal’c was silent.  Daniel wondered what he was thinking.

           

“This tretonin seems to have had an effect on your memory,” Bra’tac continued after a few minutes.

           

“Why would you say such a thing?” Teal’c asked, his voice slightly strangled.  Daniel could sympathize.  He didn’t like it when Jack scolded him either.

           

“You know that it is Daniel Jackson’s heart, not his body, that makes him who he is, but you seem to have forgotten that a warrior’s true strength comes from his heart and his mind.  You have had a physical advantage over me for a long time.  And yet, I have never lost a sparring match to you.”

           

“Because for years, old man, I have let you win,” Teal’c said.

           

Daniel giggled.

           

“Better, much better,” Bra’tac said, and Daniel could hear the smile in the way he spoke.  “Daniel Jackson, as you are awake, Lies’l has left you food.”

           

Daniel sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.  Bra’tac was lying in the same spot, his face pale and drawn, but he looked stronger.  Teal’c was leaning against Bra’tac’s bed, his own face haggard.  His shirt was blood-stained.  Memories of the evening flooded back to Daniel.

           

“Teal’c!  You’re hurt!”  He scrambled to his knees to examine Teal’c’s back.

           

“I will recover, Dan--”  Teal’c broke off with a gurgle of pain when Daniel pushed at a shoulder, trying to get Teal’c to lean forward.

           

Daniel snatched his hand away.  “Sorry!”

           

“Do not concern yourself, Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c said faintly as he settled himself with care against Bra’tac’s bed once more.

           

Teal’c really didn’t look good at all.  Daniel clasped Teal’c’s large hand with both of his own and concentrated on pouring some of his energy into Teal’c.  His head began to pound, the sign of a budding headache.  He ignored it.  Then his stomach growled, distracting him.

           

“Enough, Daniel Jackson.”  Teal’c gently withdrew his hand.  “You are recovering as well.  Save your energy.  Eat.”

           

“Have you heard from Jack?” Daniel asked as he helped himself to the stew bubbling over a small fire near the tent’s entrance.

           

“Indeed.  He is preparing a distraction for our rescue.  Rya’c and Rak’nor are warning the other laborers so they may fight with us when the time is come.”

           

Daniel glanced up and dropped his bowl of stew with a gasp.  Through a crack between the tent flaps, he could see a Jaffa dragging Rya’c to the whipping post while the angry, white-haired overseer followed.

           

“Teal’c!  Rya’c’s in trouble!”

           

Daniel was about to dart out of the tent when Teal’c’s heavy hand closed over his shoulder.

           

“Remain here with Bra’tac.  I will go.”

           

Teal’c staggered past Daniel and toward Rya’c.  Daniel watched in wide-eyed horror as Teal’c offered himself in place of his son.  When the overseer aimed his staff weapon at Teal’c, Daniel gathered a ball of energy, intent on throwing it at the overseer.  But before he could accomplish that task, a loud horn blared.  Distracted, Daniel lost hold of the energy.

           

“Not now,” he muttered to his growing headache as he tried to gather the shreds of energy.

           

Several explosions shook the ground.  Daniel stumbled.

           

“Take them now!” Rak’nor bellowed.

           

The air was suddenly filled with the sounds of yelling, staff weapons blasting, grenades launching and exploding, rifles shooting, but for Daniel, one sound rose above them all.  Jack was shouting over the radio.

           

“Daniel, where are you?  Dammit, Daniel, answer me!”

           

Hearing the desperate panic in Jack’s voice, Daniel crawled swiftly to Bra’tac’s side and snatched at the nearby radio.  “I’m here, Jack.”

           

“Where?”

           

“In the tent with Bra’tac.”

           

“Good.”  Daniel could almost see Jack reining in his worry.  “Good.  Stay put.  You got that?  Under no circumstances are you to leave that tent.”

           

“I can--”

           

“Don’t say it.  Just…don’t.”

           

“But, Jack--”

           

“Daniel, you passed out and then slept for ten hours.  Can you give me a one hundred percent guarantee that you’ve got everything under control now?”

           

Daniel bit his lip, feeling the dull throb of a headache. 

           

“If you’re biting your lip and thinking about that question, the answer’s no, Daniel.” 

           

It was scary how well Jack knew him.

           

“You stay there with Bra’tac until I come and get you.  That’s an order.”

           

The radio clicked off.  Daniel tossed it aside with a heavy sigh and slouched next to Bra’tac’s bed.  He flinched at another explosion outside.  He should be out there, helping.  Jack kept saying he was still part of SG-1, but Daniel felt useless.  He couldn’t do anything right.  He was just a kid, always in the way.

           

“Tell me what troubles you, Daniel Jackson,” Bra’tac said quietly.

           

Daniel sighed again and tugged at a loose thread in his jeans.  “I could do a lot more when I was ascended.  It was easy.  But now I keep goofing it up.  I make Jack worry.  Sometimes I think I should just ascend again.”

           

Bra’tac considered this for a moment and then seemed to change the subject.  “Shortly after we were captured and set to work as slaves, I had a vision.  A being of light and goodness appeared to me, one very like those you had once described to me in our discussions about the Earth concepts of heaven and hell.”

           

“An angel,” Daniel clarified absently.  He glanced toward the tent flaps.  If he sat near the entrance, he’d still be inside, the way Jack wanted it, but he could watch and try to help if someone needed him.  Except he was pretty sure Jack wouldn’t like that either.

           

“Yes.  Exactly.  An angel.  He told me to have hope, for he would bring rescue.”

           

Still staring at the tent entrance, Daniel hunched his shoulders as he recognized himself in Bra’tac’s words.  “I wasn’t really an angel.”

           

“You brought a bit of heaven into this hell.  Even at the very worst moments, I remembered you, and the darkness around me seemed lighter and the burdens, easier to bear.” 

 

More explosions rocked the ground.  Daniel trembled with the intense need to be closer to the action, but when he tensed to move, Bra’tac reached for his hand.

 

“I think, were I to ask O’Neill,” Bra’tac said gently, “he too would say that the angel who was cast from heaven brought heaven with him and that we are all better off for the angel’s presence among us.”

           

Daniel finally looked at Bra’tac.  “But I keep doing stuff wrong.  Or I can’t do enough.  I guess I’m not a very good angel.”

 

He tried to smile, but it collapsed as a sob hitched in his throat.

           

Bra’tac squeezed his hand.  “Do you remember the story of Orpheus from your Greek mythology, Daniel Jackson?”

           

Daniel shook his head.

           

“Then I shall tell it to you, as you once told it to me.  Listen.  Once, a man named Orpheus lost his true love to death.  And so, he descended into Erebus, the underworld, the place of hell, the land of the dead, in order to bargain for her life.”

           

The sounds of the fire fight outside the tent grew distant as Daniel was drawn into the spell of Bra’tac’s storytelling.  His body’s urge to fidget faded, calmed by the Jaffa’s steady voice.

           

“Orpheus was a great singer.  The magic of his voice so charmed the rulers of the underworld that they agreed to grant his desire.  On one condition.  He would lead his love out of Erebus by the strength of song.  He had to trust that his talents alone would guide her.  If he looked back, she would be lost to him forever.”

           

Daniel leaned forward, enthralled.  “What happened?”

           

“Orpheus sang, and drawn by the music, his love followed him from the place of hell.  But just before he reached the end of his journey, he wondered if he should do more.  He decided the talents he had were not adequate to save someone.  So he looked back.  For the briefest moment, he saw his love, but because he had doubted himself and stopped singing, she lost her way and was forced to return to Erebus, forever beyond Orpheus’s reach.”

           

Bra’tac released Daniel’s hand and extended his hand so that his fingertips brushed Daniel’s cheek.  “Be content with the talents you have, Daniel Jackson, and trust yourself.  Heaven is within you, not behind you.”

 

#

 

Jack tried to tally up the number of gray hairs he’d added on this mission.  There was that clump when the overseer had leveled his staff weapon at Teal’c.  Carter had estimated another thirty seconds before the detonation she and Jonas had prepared, and Jack had been positive they didn’t even have five seconds.  Thank goodness for the Jaffa tendency to posture arrogantly before proceeding to the main event.

 

He’d had another gray-hair moment while picking off enemy Jaffa with a sniper rifle and watching the fight between Tea’c and the camp’s overseer.  He hadn’t been sure Teal’c, lacking his “mojo” and still weak from the whipping, was going to pull everything together long enough to defeat the overseer.  It wasn’t until Rya’c tried to involve himself in the fight that Teal’c rallied and overpowered the other Jaffa.

 

The worst stretch of time, though, was when the fighting had started and Daniel hadn’t answered the radio right away.  Forget the hair.  Jack had practically died of a heart attack.

 

Even now, he wasn’t letting Daniel out of his sight.  He’d given Penhall and his team the task of relocating the former slaves to the Alpha Site and helping Rak’nor salvage equipment and supplies, so Jack could get his own team, including one six year old, home to the SGC.  Daniel was up ahead, chattering away to Bra’tac, who was confined to the travois that Jack had called in two members of SG-3 to carry back to the Stargate.  On the other side of the travois, Rya’c and Teal’c were talking quietly as they walked together.  Rya’c had a hand near his father’s elbow, ready to offer support.  Jack could see that Teal’c was beginning to waver, now that the adrenaline of the fight had worn off.

 

After a while, Daniel dropped back to Jack’s position.  He must have sensed some of Jack’s overprotective feelings.  Even while Jack was organizing the mop-up at the liberated camp, Daniel had been careful to stay where Jack could see him.

 

Jack slanted a glance over at the kid skipping along beside him.  Something glinted over Daniel’s head.  Jack looked closer.  A gold ring, the size of a small plate, bobbed above Daniel as if it were about to crown him.  Jack reached out.  His hand passed through air.  The ring shimmered and then reformed once Jack’s hand had left its space.

 

“Daniel, what is that?”

 

“Oh, that’s my halo.”  Daniel grinned up at him.  “I’m an angel, you know.”

 

Jack lifted an eyebrow.  “Really?”

 

Daniel nodded contentedly.  “Yep.  Bra’tac said so.”

 

                                                                    BOP Home                                                BOP #3