Angels & Vagabonds - Part 3
They made the 'gate with the sun still golden on the far horizon, leaving dark, rolling hills and long shadows stretched on the ground. A dry, cold breeze had come up and whipped the sand into Jack's face. The fine grains stung like needles. He kept his sunglasses on, even though he'd now have better vision without them, but he didn't want sand in his eyes. Carter had taken to ducking her head low and had wrapped a bandana over her mouth and knotted it in back.
Teal'c didn't react to any of it.
If Jack threw him a question, he'd turn his head and blink. Then he’d turn away, seeming to turn inside. But he stayed on his feet, stayed with them and kept up that stumbling walk, blinked away any sand and kept trying to help them. They'd never have made it otherwise. Jack braced himself, let the larger man lean on him, as Carter moved away to dial home.
Each glyph pressed seemed to crawl up Jack's spine as it clunked into place. The 'gate whooshed out a wormhole, shimmered bright and blue in the fading daylight. Carter came back to Teal'c and him, and they started forward.
And Jack kept thinking about that blinking in and out stuff, and he wished Daniel hadn't brought that up. Steps starting to drag, Jack stumbled beside Teal'c. But it wasn't the other man's weight pulling on him.
Damnit, they'd left Daniel behind too many other times before this. But it wasn't like they were going home, thinking he was dead and gone. So why the hell was his skin trying to crawl off his body? Daniel would be okay. He'd be lost in his translations and oblivious. Wouldn't even notice the time passing, as usual.
Oh, yeah, right--and that was such a load.
He knew that because he'd been left once. Back on that world with those damn blue, rock-face crystals and yellow sand. He'd woken up, realized not a single other soul was with him. He'd gone from groggy to panic in two seconds, another two took him to spitting angry because that felt a lot better than shivering in his boots terrified.
Yeah, one thing to be alone in a room, or a house, or in a desert with only scorpions and buzzards for company. A whole other thing to be left alone on a world with no one. That was the stuff of nightmares, and Daniel might be something of a loner, but Jack couldn't see anyone ever liking that much solitude.
And they were leaving him, making him go through it again.
Thank god, Carter stopped before he did, right before the event horizon. “Sir--?”
He glanced at her, caught the question in her eyes and the hesitation in her voice, knew she was on the same page with him in their private collection of grim tales. Too long spent together alright.
“You've got him?” he asked, didn't have to say more.
She nodded. “I can manage.”
And she could. Not for long, but for the few steps across the galaxy and onto the gate ramp back home, she could do it. She could also rustle up the cavalry, would have a better idea what kind of electronic can opener they'd need to cut Daniel loose. But it spooked him that she was thinking the same thing--how they couldn't leave Daniel.
He worried out of professional habit, but when Carter got in on the act, it meant she had the same bad vibes going that somehow, if they all left, no one would be back for Daniel.
Like Hammond would ever let that happen.
But generals got their orders, too. And that left Jack thinking about the brass above Hammond, and everyone in line above that, and how maybe something would happen. Some emergency. Some disaster. Some political snafu. The wrong people in high places would only have to slow SGC's reaction, maybe delay a day or two, for this to be really bad on Daniel. A few days left here alone--what kind of hell would that be?
That was when he realized he hadn't asked Daniel what he had with him as supplies. So he thumbed on his radio. “Daniel? You there?”
“Hey, Jack. Back so soon?”
Jack glanced at Carter, caught a weak smile, couldn't find one in himself, because he'd heard the relief under the smart ass. “We're at the 'gate. Carter's just about to step through. You copy?”
“That's nice. Uhm, I'm just going to go back to translating the walls, okay?”
“Fine. I'll be back to you in a couple of hours.”
“Not going anywhere, am I?”
That did it. Daniel didn't get that Jack was staying, had thought a couple hours meant through the 'gate and back, and the stuff leaking into Daniel's voice found its way past the static--raw bravado over bleak anxiety. He'd heard that tone from Daniel only a couple of times, and he did not want to hear it again. Keeping his radio thumbed on, he glanced at his 2iC. “Carter, get Hammond to send some tents back with you. Daniel's gonna be hogging the only shade on this rock. Oh, and get what you need, but don't take too long doing it.”
She snapped back a sharp 'yes, sir,' and the radio crackled as Daniel's voice came over it, hesitant, trying hard not to be hopeful or anything but cautious. “Jack?”
“Yeah, Daniel?”
“What are you doing?”
“Heading back your way. What're you doing? I thought you had a translation to finish?”
Carter offered a tense smile, then half-covered by Teal'c, staggered with him through the Stargate. Jack stared after them, watched the event horizon snap out and leave a metal circle and a view of sandy hills going dark. Crap, a long hike in twilight. The things he did for his team.
Turning, he started back, pulled off his sunglasses and squinted as sand swirled up and into his face. He spit it out, reached for his bandana, but before he got it in place, he thumbed on his radio again. “Hey, Daniel, you gonna get that off switch figured out before I get back to you or not?”
#
No off switch. Ah, damn. Of course not. But he was only half way through the hieroglyphs, had finished the hieratic around the base of the walls, which was pretty much just general honorifics to the gods as well as boasts concerning the construction. He had to admit, they had built to last. Deciding to save his batteries, he turned off his flashlight and sat cross-legged at the edge of the doorway, not waiting for Jack.
He wanted to curse Jack for not leaving, but he couldn't because he was glad of it. He could curse instead at what he knew so far.
This was a temple for sacrifice. Of course it would be. And he had a good idea what had triggered the force field--not him, but that didn't make anything better. He would prefer it to be his fault, that he had done something. Because that would mean there were controls on the inside. But all indications were, so far, that any controls lay someplace else, because this room was supposed to leave you hopeless.
Oh, god, he was so...
His radio crackled and Jack's voice came on, tinny with static. Jack had been using one excuse or another or just no reason at all to check with him every ten minutes. He'd timed the interruptions and had given up on getting anything else done partly because he wasn't able to concentrate.
Did Jack time them, too? Or did he have a clock in his head that told him, 'oh, have to bother Daniel now before Daniel works himself into a pit.'
Only there was no need to work at despair. This temple had been built to eliminate even a possibility of a good ending for anyone so foolish as to be trapped inside.
“Daniel?”
“Yeah, Jack.”
“Should be to you in a few minutes. Next time, remind me to have you get stuck on a nice world.”
“Take your time, Jack. In fact, you may want to stop and eat. I've had dinner already.”
And he had. Two sips of water. He was hungry now, and a little dry, but tomorrow he'd go through the rest of his vest pockets, take inventory and figure out a rationing system. For now, it seemed a good idea to conserve everything. Making do with little or no food wasn't that bad.
He'd done it before, on digs when supplies ran low, and there'd been that one bad season on Abydos. You could easily handle a few days with very little if you were careful about how you expended calories. The water worried him, however. He almost regretted stopping on the way here, thought of how he'd drunk half his canteen, had though nothing of the liquid that had spilled from his lips.
He wet his lips now, pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. He should lay down. He should conserve more than his food and water. But he still wanted to hope for a bit longer that he wouldn't be stuck here more than another day. At least, he wasn't alone. Letting out a breath, he tried to take comfort in that.
Jack had stayed with him, and that should be a good thing, but it left him unable to avoid the obvious. Jack would only stay if he had a bad feeling about this, and so Daniel knew he was in very deep trouble.
It was too late to confess that to Jack and say, 'oh, Jack, please leave because that way I feel like you're not too worried, so I don't have to be.'
That would go down well.
Particularly when Jack was almost here. At least he hadn't had to think about Jack getting lost, wandering the wrong way in this barren land. Jack had the moons and stars, so he could track his relative position. But Daniel had turned his flashlight back on a half an hour ago, angling it to point out the doorway. He justified the act in that it meant he could make a few more notes--and it didn't matter that Jack could also see the light from across these dark hills.
Besides, he'd already started to suspect that his batteries would last a lot longer than the less than a quart and a half of water in his canteens.
#
“Daniel, thought you were saving batteries?”
“Uh, Jack--you can see the light? You must be close.”
“Batteries, Daniel?”
“Yeah, well, I just--”
“Colonel, this is Carter--do you copy?”
“'Bout time, Carter. Daniel, shut off your flashlight. Carter, report?”
Reaching for his light, Daniel shut it off and listened to the chatter on the radio. A second moon had risen to spill light onto this world, making it bright enough that Jack should be able to make it the rest of the way without help. Jack, of course, didn't have his own flashlight on, had to be walking in moonlight as if it was a pleasant evening. The man did not need night vision goggles--he had the eyesight of a night predator.
Odd that that should be comforting.
Getting up, Daniel stretched, rubbed his sore ass. His shoulders had settled into a dull, stiff ache--his right one pounded--but he'd found some aspirin in a vest pocket. Since he'd started looking, he kept on, even though he had told himself this could wait. What else did he have to do, after all?
He'd found two power bars and some chocolate, which he ate with the excuse that he should keep it from melting. He wished he'd thought to go through his vest before the mission. So far he'd found water purification tables--nice to see the fates hadn't lost their sense of humor. Aspirin and antihistamines. And his field glasses.
He had remembered, too, that his last tube of lip balm had gone on permanent loan to Sam a few weeks ago, and he’d kept meaning to buy more but he hadn't. He'd also thought he had things with him that he didn't have, and the new guys in supply must be taking Jack's orders that teams should travel light a little too seriously.
He did have pens--six of them tucked into the bottom of various pockets. And two pencil stubs. He'd dug out slips of paper with notes he'd written to himself months ago. Those they had left. If he got out of here, he was going to have a long talk with Jack and the quartermaster about snacks being left alone. But, in a few hours, he'd stop feeling hungry anyway.
He could wish, however, for a sleeping bag. Or a Mylar blanket. Stone was bound to leach the heat from him, and he never slept well when he was cold. It at least helped to hear Sam's voice again. She always sounded so capable and efficient, and he could use all of that working for him.
She was giving Jack a summary of who and what she had with her--two SG teams, enough equipment that if they were packing it all they must be staggering, and then he realized she was talking so much so she wouldn't have to talk about Teal'c.
Ah, no.
Jack cut into the list at what seemed only part way through. “Carter, how's Teal'c?”
For a moment, nothing but static cut over the line, so Daniel thumbed on his own radio. “Jack, I'm sure Janet will do everything possible. He's going to be fine.”
“What, you've been doing med night school now, Dr. Jackson?” The words came out dry, and it took Daniel a moment to realize he hadn't heard them just over the radio.
He glanced up, but couldn't really see anything more than shadows outside the temple. He called out, “Hey, Jack. Have a nice hike?”
“Funny. Carter, what's your ETA? You think you can get all your sweet hinnies over here before dawn?”
“The FRED's going to slow us, sir, but we'll split into two teams and have a base camp up before these moons set.”
They did, too. Daniel didn't see any point in sleeping--not on stone. He pulled his jacket tight, zipped his vest and huddled in the doorway and watched. The temperature steadily dropped. He could see a wind kicking up sand outside, didn't feel much of it inside the temple, and the stone leached the heat from him just as he'd expected. A few times, he stood, flapped his arms, walked around, but he always came back to the doorway where he could watch the others.
Jack groused mostly--supervising, he'd call it, but he left Sam to give specific orders. She'd brought a generator, and they had tents up--one big ones, and several smaller ones, and lights going. Other than the noisy grind of the generator, it looked pretty cozy. Then the wind rose, started pulling at the tents, flapping canvas and pushing at anyone standing or trying to walk.
Daniel watched people lean into the wind as they made for the shelter of the smaller tents. He still didn't feel much of it, just a light breeze, but he heard the generator shut down and watched everyone disappear. His radio crackled with Jack saying that they were calling it a night. “Get some sleep,” Jack added, making it more of an order than an encouragement.
Right, yeah. Daniel thought, but he tried for a civil answer and said over the radio, “Sure, Jack. Sure.”
God, that didn't sound good, even to him.
He curled up in a corner of the room near the doorway. Odd that he wanted to try and be close to the others even though this wasn't anything like close. A psychological need to feel connected? The remnants of childhood fears of abandonment? Desperation leaking out? Maybe all of that, and too bad he hadn't packed a small bottle of something. He should start carrying a hip flask--medicinal purpose tequila--if he could get it past the quartermaster and security. Assuming, of course, he also got out of this place.
Got to Part 4
Teal'c didn't react to any of it.
If Jack threw him a question, he'd turn his head and blink. Then he’d turn away, seeming to turn inside. But he stayed on his feet, stayed with them and kept up that stumbling walk, blinked away any sand and kept trying to help them. They'd never have made it otherwise. Jack braced himself, let the larger man lean on him, as Carter moved away to dial home.
Each glyph pressed seemed to crawl up Jack's spine as it clunked into place. The 'gate whooshed out a wormhole, shimmered bright and blue in the fading daylight. Carter came back to Teal'c and him, and they started forward.
And Jack kept thinking about that blinking in and out stuff, and he wished Daniel hadn't brought that up. Steps starting to drag, Jack stumbled beside Teal'c. But it wasn't the other man's weight pulling on him.
Damnit, they'd left Daniel behind too many other times before this. But it wasn't like they were going home, thinking he was dead and gone. So why the hell was his skin trying to crawl off his body? Daniel would be okay. He'd be lost in his translations and oblivious. Wouldn't even notice the time passing, as usual.
Oh, yeah, right--and that was such a load.
He knew that because he'd been left once. Back on that world with those damn blue, rock-face crystals and yellow sand. He'd woken up, realized not a single other soul was with him. He'd gone from groggy to panic in two seconds, another two took him to spitting angry because that felt a lot better than shivering in his boots terrified.
Yeah, one thing to be alone in a room, or a house, or in a desert with only scorpions and buzzards for company. A whole other thing to be left alone on a world with no one. That was the stuff of nightmares, and Daniel might be something of a loner, but Jack couldn't see anyone ever liking that much solitude.
And they were leaving him, making him go through it again.
Thank god, Carter stopped before he did, right before the event horizon. “Sir--?”
He glanced at her, caught the question in her eyes and the hesitation in her voice, knew she was on the same page with him in their private collection of grim tales. Too long spent together alright.
“You've got him?” he asked, didn't have to say more.
She nodded. “I can manage.”
And she could. Not for long, but for the few steps across the galaxy and onto the gate ramp back home, she could do it. She could also rustle up the cavalry, would have a better idea what kind of electronic can opener they'd need to cut Daniel loose. But it spooked him that she was thinking the same thing--how they couldn't leave Daniel.
He worried out of professional habit, but when Carter got in on the act, it meant she had the same bad vibes going that somehow, if they all left, no one would be back for Daniel.
Like Hammond would ever let that happen.
But generals got their orders, too. And that left Jack thinking about the brass above Hammond, and everyone in line above that, and how maybe something would happen. Some emergency. Some disaster. Some political snafu. The wrong people in high places would only have to slow SGC's reaction, maybe delay a day or two, for this to be really bad on Daniel. A few days left here alone--what kind of hell would that be?
That was when he realized he hadn't asked Daniel what he had with him as supplies. So he thumbed on his radio. “Daniel? You there?”
“Hey, Jack. Back so soon?”
Jack glanced at Carter, caught a weak smile, couldn't find one in himself, because he'd heard the relief under the smart ass. “We're at the 'gate. Carter's just about to step through. You copy?”
“That's nice. Uhm, I'm just going to go back to translating the walls, okay?”
“Fine. I'll be back to you in a couple of hours.”
“Not going anywhere, am I?”
That did it. Daniel didn't get that Jack was staying, had thought a couple hours meant through the 'gate and back, and the stuff leaking into Daniel's voice found its way past the static--raw bravado over bleak anxiety. He'd heard that tone from Daniel only a couple of times, and he did not want to hear it again. Keeping his radio thumbed on, he glanced at his 2iC. “Carter, get Hammond to send some tents back with you. Daniel's gonna be hogging the only shade on this rock. Oh, and get what you need, but don't take too long doing it.”
She snapped back a sharp 'yes, sir,' and the radio crackled as Daniel's voice came over it, hesitant, trying hard not to be hopeful or anything but cautious. “Jack?”
“Yeah, Daniel?”
“What are you doing?”
“Heading back your way. What're you doing? I thought you had a translation to finish?”
Carter offered a tense smile, then half-covered by Teal'c, staggered with him through the Stargate. Jack stared after them, watched the event horizon snap out and leave a metal circle and a view of sandy hills going dark. Crap, a long hike in twilight. The things he did for his team.
Turning, he started back, pulled off his sunglasses and squinted as sand swirled up and into his face. He spit it out, reached for his bandana, but before he got it in place, he thumbed on his radio again. “Hey, Daniel, you gonna get that off switch figured out before I get back to you or not?”
#
No off switch. Ah, damn. Of course not. But he was only half way through the hieroglyphs, had finished the hieratic around the base of the walls, which was pretty much just general honorifics to the gods as well as boasts concerning the construction. He had to admit, they had built to last. Deciding to save his batteries, he turned off his flashlight and sat cross-legged at the edge of the doorway, not waiting for Jack.
He wanted to curse Jack for not leaving, but he couldn't because he was glad of it. He could curse instead at what he knew so far.
This was a temple for sacrifice. Of course it would be. And he had a good idea what had triggered the force field--not him, but that didn't make anything better. He would prefer it to be his fault, that he had done something. Because that would mean there were controls on the inside. But all indications were, so far, that any controls lay someplace else, because this room was supposed to leave you hopeless.
Oh, god, he was so...
His radio crackled and Jack's voice came on, tinny with static. Jack had been using one excuse or another or just no reason at all to check with him every ten minutes. He'd timed the interruptions and had given up on getting anything else done partly because he wasn't able to concentrate.
Did Jack time them, too? Or did he have a clock in his head that told him, 'oh, have to bother Daniel now before Daniel works himself into a pit.'
Only there was no need to work at despair. This temple had been built to eliminate even a possibility of a good ending for anyone so foolish as to be trapped inside.
“Daniel?”
“Yeah, Jack.”
“Should be to you in a few minutes. Next time, remind me to have you get stuck on a nice world.”
“Take your time, Jack. In fact, you may want to stop and eat. I've had dinner already.”
And he had. Two sips of water. He was hungry now, and a little dry, but tomorrow he'd go through the rest of his vest pockets, take inventory and figure out a rationing system. For now, it seemed a good idea to conserve everything. Making do with little or no food wasn't that bad.
He'd done it before, on digs when supplies ran low, and there'd been that one bad season on Abydos. You could easily handle a few days with very little if you were careful about how you expended calories. The water worried him, however. He almost regretted stopping on the way here, thought of how he'd drunk half his canteen, had though nothing of the liquid that had spilled from his lips.
He wet his lips now, pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. He should lay down. He should conserve more than his food and water. But he still wanted to hope for a bit longer that he wouldn't be stuck here more than another day. At least, he wasn't alone. Letting out a breath, he tried to take comfort in that.
Jack had stayed with him, and that should be a good thing, but it left him unable to avoid the obvious. Jack would only stay if he had a bad feeling about this, and so Daniel knew he was in very deep trouble.
It was too late to confess that to Jack and say, 'oh, Jack, please leave because that way I feel like you're not too worried, so I don't have to be.'
That would go down well.
Particularly when Jack was almost here. At least he hadn't had to think about Jack getting lost, wandering the wrong way in this barren land. Jack had the moons and stars, so he could track his relative position. But Daniel had turned his flashlight back on a half an hour ago, angling it to point out the doorway. He justified the act in that it meant he could make a few more notes--and it didn't matter that Jack could also see the light from across these dark hills.
Besides, he'd already started to suspect that his batteries would last a lot longer than the less than a quart and a half of water in his canteens.
#
“Daniel, thought you were saving batteries?”
“Uh, Jack--you can see the light? You must be close.”
“Batteries, Daniel?”
“Yeah, well, I just--”
“Colonel, this is Carter--do you copy?”
“'Bout time, Carter. Daniel, shut off your flashlight. Carter, report?”
Reaching for his light, Daniel shut it off and listened to the chatter on the radio. A second moon had risen to spill light onto this world, making it bright enough that Jack should be able to make it the rest of the way without help. Jack, of course, didn't have his own flashlight on, had to be walking in moonlight as if it was a pleasant evening. The man did not need night vision goggles--he had the eyesight of a night predator.
Odd that that should be comforting.
Getting up, Daniel stretched, rubbed his sore ass. His shoulders had settled into a dull, stiff ache--his right one pounded--but he'd found some aspirin in a vest pocket. Since he'd started looking, he kept on, even though he had told himself this could wait. What else did he have to do, after all?
He'd found two power bars and some chocolate, which he ate with the excuse that he should keep it from melting. He wished he'd thought to go through his vest before the mission. So far he'd found water purification tables--nice to see the fates hadn't lost their sense of humor. Aspirin and antihistamines. And his field glasses.
He had remembered, too, that his last tube of lip balm had gone on permanent loan to Sam a few weeks ago, and he’d kept meaning to buy more but he hadn't. He'd also thought he had things with him that he didn't have, and the new guys in supply must be taking Jack's orders that teams should travel light a little too seriously.
He did have pens--six of them tucked into the bottom of various pockets. And two pencil stubs. He'd dug out slips of paper with notes he'd written to himself months ago. Those they had left. If he got out of here, he was going to have a long talk with Jack and the quartermaster about snacks being left alone. But, in a few hours, he'd stop feeling hungry anyway.
He could wish, however, for a sleeping bag. Or a Mylar blanket. Stone was bound to leach the heat from him, and he never slept well when he was cold. It at least helped to hear Sam's voice again. She always sounded so capable and efficient, and he could use all of that working for him.
She was giving Jack a summary of who and what she had with her--two SG teams, enough equipment that if they were packing it all they must be staggering, and then he realized she was talking so much so she wouldn't have to talk about Teal'c.
Ah, no.
Jack cut into the list at what seemed only part way through. “Carter, how's Teal'c?”
For a moment, nothing but static cut over the line, so Daniel thumbed on his own radio. “Jack, I'm sure Janet will do everything possible. He's going to be fine.”
“What, you've been doing med night school now, Dr. Jackson?” The words came out dry, and it took Daniel a moment to realize he hadn't heard them just over the radio.
He glanced up, but couldn't really see anything more than shadows outside the temple. He called out, “Hey, Jack. Have a nice hike?”
“Funny. Carter, what's your ETA? You think you can get all your sweet hinnies over here before dawn?”
“The FRED's going to slow us, sir, but we'll split into two teams and have a base camp up before these moons set.”
They did, too. Daniel didn't see any point in sleeping--not on stone. He pulled his jacket tight, zipped his vest and huddled in the doorway and watched. The temperature steadily dropped. He could see a wind kicking up sand outside, didn't feel much of it inside the temple, and the stone leached the heat from him just as he'd expected. A few times, he stood, flapped his arms, walked around, but he always came back to the doorway where he could watch the others.
Jack groused mostly--supervising, he'd call it, but he left Sam to give specific orders. She'd brought a generator, and they had tents up--one big ones, and several smaller ones, and lights going. Other than the noisy grind of the generator, it looked pretty cozy. Then the wind rose, started pulling at the tents, flapping canvas and pushing at anyone standing or trying to walk.
Daniel watched people lean into the wind as they made for the shelter of the smaller tents. He still didn't feel much of it, just a light breeze, but he heard the generator shut down and watched everyone disappear. His radio crackled with Jack saying that they were calling it a night. “Get some sleep,” Jack added, making it more of an order than an encouragement.
Right, yeah. Daniel thought, but he tried for a civil answer and said over the radio, “Sure, Jack. Sure.”
God, that didn't sound good, even to him.
He curled up in a corner of the room near the doorway. Odd that he wanted to try and be close to the others even though this wasn't anything like close. A psychological need to feel connected? The remnants of childhood fears of abandonment? Desperation leaking out? Maybe all of that, and too bad he hadn't packed a small bottle of something. He should start carrying a hip flask--medicinal purpose tequila--if he could get it past the quartermaster and security. Assuming, of course, he also got out of this place.
Got to Part 4