Only Misplaced - Part 3
"Does it seem like everything's uphill?" Letting out a breath, Daniel hoped that didn't sound too much like a whining complaint. He had a suspicion it did.
He was used to walking-walking was fine. But he had the muscles for soft sand, not the calluses for hard metal that only looked like dirt. His feet hurt. From the burn he had going, he suspected a blister on the ball of his right foot, and another on his left heel. He wasn't about to stop and check. They'd had lunch on the go-some kind of military issue energy bars that actually weren't too bad washed down with warming water-but he ached for ten minutes to sit down. They didn't dare.
It'd taken just under five minutes for the paper to go poof, and when he'd torn up the wrapper from his power bar, he'd walked backwards, trailing bits of it. He timed each flash by counting the seconds. It took just under two minutes for the smaller scraps to turn into nothing, so the timing seemed to be related to the size of the item. But he wasn't sure what the reaction would be with living organic material. However, he didn't have any way to figure out further details without killing himself. Or Teal'c.
The blisters on the soles of his feet suggested the ground was heating up in spots any time they even paused-he'd swear he could smell the tread of his boots melting. Yes, another good thought that Jack wouldn't want to hear.
Daniel now officially hated this place.
Sweat stuck his shirt to his back, but at least there wasn't any dust or pollen-his allergies were fine. Teal'c's skin on the back of his shaved head and on his neck gleamed dark, and thank god for that. It would have been more than embarrassing if he'd been the only one getting toasted by just walking over endless hard ground.
In a way, the slower pace made everything worse. They had to balance slow with not too slow, which meant more focus-they couldn't fall into a ground-covering rhythm. It was also boring, seeing the same loop of scenery over and over.
Teal'c glanced at him now, that one eyebrow lifted-an exclamation point to underscore something he didn't understand. Or maybe he was smelling something bad. Then he asked, "Is that question rhetorical?"
Daniel thought back to what he'd just said about everything being uphill. He caught a faint gleam in the dark eyes-ah, that inappropriate humor Jack had been asking about. He started to smile back, and caught it, and had the heat notch higher under his collar. Well, damn-this wasn't expected, either. What-he'd forgotten already who this was? Ex-First Prime of Apophis, and god-literally that god-only knew what Teal'c's former job had entailed besides the killing that Daniel had witnessed. The man was-well, to be honest, Teal'c was just walking right now, keeping pace, glancing around. But the questions echoed hollow in Daniel's head-and so did the guilt. Trouble was, he couldn't shut up either of them.
"Teal'c?"
"Yes, Daniel Jackson?"
"Do you think less of me because I haven't..." How the hell did he put this-hadn't yelled, thrown a fit, punched the guy, asked for his head on a cafeteria tray or tried to take it?
No one had told him Teal'c's part in Sha're and Skaara's abductions, but he'd put a few inferred clues together. However, since it hadn't officially been mentioned, and no one was talking about it-at least to him-it seemed like a very large, very angry dog that he should leave sleeping. More illusion to keep going. But wasn't it better that way? If no one said anything, then no one had to do something, like put Teal'c on trial for war crimes. As if that would happen-if the bad stuff ever came up, they'd lock the guy away. That would leave Teal'c unable to be of any help to anyone, so why the hell was he even thinking about this?
His glance slipped away, and he wished the damn questions would go away just as easily right now. If he started in on them, he might not stop-and that wouldn't lead anywhere positive. He had to be practical-for the sake of Sha're and Skaara. So he should just stop.
"Because you have not what, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, and he sounded too patient and too reasonable. He just sounded like someone you could talk to who would actually think about an answer before giving one.
Lips pressed tight, Daniel shook his head and put his stare on the not-dirt ground. He wouldn't say it. Revenge was a stupid idea anyway. Would anything change if he just turned and shot Teal'c for what had been done?
And he could-well, in theory, he could.
He had a gun strapped to his leg and he could even get away with it. He could say Teal'c had gone crazy. Or he could let this world take care of the body-it'd turn Teal'c into so much smoke, so there wouldn't be a need to say much of anything. He had a dozen excuses and plenty of reasons.
But that wouldn't get him Sha're back.
Teal'c might, however.
If the guy felt bad enough about what he'd done-or just wanted change bad enough.
Daniel frowned as he thought of something else and it startled him enough that he stopped walking and looked at Teal'c. "Just how many worlds does Apophis hold? Places where he might be now?"
"Hundreds of systems. Not all with Stargates."
The ache that never left his chest these days tightened, but Daniel nodded and started walking again. Well, hundreds was better than thousands-or millions. He rubbed the heel of his hand over his breast bone-sternum from Latin, which came from the Greek, as did so many medical words. In this case, from sternon or chest…from the root that meant to stretch or extend, and related to stornynai, to spread out. Then he asked, "Just how long were you in service to Apophis?"
He glanced up to find Teal'c back to one of those patentable say nothing looks. God, the man was harder to read than early cuneiform.
"Years."
Well, that was as useful as the hundreds answers. Damnit, he'd known he shouldn't have started this. And he'd done it anyway. His steps had slowed, too-and he could swear he really did smell tread burning now. Catching up with Teal'c, he glanced at him again, caught only the man's profile-fixed and grim, a man who could kill others and not blink an eye in reaction. A guy with surprising softness if you looked for it-in the heavy fringe of long eyelashes and around the mouth when it wasn't pulled into that sour-mouthed grimace as if Teal'c really did keep smelling something really bad. But you had to look for it.
Of course, who was he to judge Teal'c?
He'd helped Jack nuke a ship and had shot more than a few people on Abydos, and he didn't think he looked like someone who could do that. And he wasn't all that sure he could shoot Teal'c now-which just irritated.
"Is that year in our years, or Chulakian years?" he asked.
Teal'c glanced at him, and Daniel thought he'd glimpsed humor in the man's face again, dry and sparse, as shocking as bright flowers against the dunes of a harsh desert. Daniel shifted his pack and said, "Dogs on Earth live about seven years for every human year. So you can have a dog that you've known sixteen years be a hundred and something."
"One hundred and twelve, if that is correct. I, however, have not been in Apophis' service my entire life. Nor have I been there for so many dog years."
"Just most of your life?" Trying to get a little ahead so he could see more of the other man's face, Daniel skipped a step. He had that tingle under his skin that came whenever he knew he was on the right track, headed toward an idea, but not quit there. If he couldn't leave this, he'd better get it to a resolution he could live with. Or at least work with. "How much of that did you spend wishing for things to be different?"
He thought he saw a hesitation-a ghosting shadow in the other man's eyes-but he didn't get so much as the flicker of a glance sent his way.
"To wish the universe to be other than it is is to invite discontent."
"Is that a quote? A philosophy that's passed on to generations of Jaffa to ensure the status quo? But change has to start with someone… something. A desire. A wish? Even a failed dream can be the spark that leads to more. In fact, we have a long history of people who failed-who died because of that they said or did or wanted. Their desire for change still managed to start something that wouldn't go away. That sounds...optimistically simple, doesn't it?"
"Yes. However, that does not mean it is not true."
"I suppose. Maybe truisms become trite by overuse, but that still doesn't manage to change the basic truth. But what's the truth here, Teal'c? When we showed up, were you waiting and planning-or just wishing for change?"
Teal'c did look at him this time. He didn't slow his pace, but he turned and stared for what seemed a very long time, and Daniel met the look. A few more pieces clicked into place for Daniel. He stepped forward and stopped and turned, blocking Teal'c, making him stop as well. "My god-you set up the whole thing, didn't you? On Chulak?"
"We must keep walking, Daniel Jackson."
"We will-when you answer."
Stepping to the side, Teal'c let his stride lengthen.
With a muffled curse, Daniel started after him. "What is it you don't want to admit-that you stacked the deck?"
"I do not understand-what is a deck?"
"It's, uh, a term for playing cards-something used in a game-and stacking it means you arrange the cards so the game goes the way you want. Were you setting up a palace guard with such bad training that the locals could revolt?"
Stopping, Teal'c turned and he pushed forward into Daniel's face so fast that Daniel stumbled back a step. "I would be without honor if I led into battle any man who did not have the training and skills to survive."
Harsh anger bit into the words, and Daniel wet his lips and put up his hands, palms out. He hadn't grown up with glasses and a deep love of books without learning to defuse this kind of male aggression. But then his mouth took off. "Yes-well, I didn't say otherwise. But those guards' shots still went wild. So like hell that was training. Besides, you didn't lead them. You turned and slaughtered them. Or is that just part of a Jaffa's training, too?"
Eyes narrowed, Teal'c stared at him, and then he turned and started walking again. "We must continue."
For an insane second, Daniel considered just sitting down. Childish, of course, but it would have given him the satisfaction of forcing Teal'c back here to finish this. Since that wasn't an option, he started walking again. He considered letting the distance between them widen-a rather blunt visual metaphor, but what the hell. So he went ahead and did it, drifting to the side to walk through trees.
Odd that, even knowing they weren't there, they'd been avoiding the seeming obstacles. Now he strode through trunks wider than his shoulders, had trees dissolve into shivers around him. It didn't feel like anything-no tingle, no change in pressure. But he noted the automatic hesitation that kept cropping up just before his face impacted a not-there tree. He started closing his eyes just before he hit the edge of the gnarled bark-then left them closed.
"Daniel Jackson!"
Opening his eyes, he glanced at Teal'c. "What?"
"You have gone off the trail."
"And that matters?"
Teal'c didn't seem to have anything to say, just stared at him, looking a little startled. Jack got that same look sometimes, so Daniel said, "Until Jack and Sam find us, aren't we just killing time?"
He shifted his stare away and bit the inside of his lower lip. Not the most tactful phrase to use, given what he'd been trying to discuss with Teal'c. Closing his eyes again, he started walking.
"Daniel Jackson!"
Mouth pressed tight, he opened his eyes and glanced at Teal'c again. He threw up a hand. "You think I'm going to get more lost or something? Walk off a cliff? Into a rock?" He waited for an answer, but he hadn't left one there for Teal'c, so he threw both hands wide now and said, "I'm a little tired of being manipulated by what someone wants me to see."
Closing his eyes again, he struck off in a straight line. This place couldn't be endless, but they could be kept away from walls with slight shifts in the scenery. They were being guided, kept to a track, and he was done with that. Teal'c could either follow him-or he could keep to his own damn path.
He heard a light step behind him, got distracted by how a guy that big could move with such silence, then put his focus on walking straight.
He smacked into a wall a lot sooner than he'd expected.
Stepped back, nose stinging, eyes watering, he blinked and put his hands up, but his nose wasn't bleeding.
He was, however, in the middle of shimmering trees-a dense stand of them. It was a little unsettling to have them flickering in and out of existence, as if reality wasn't stable, and his stomach turned on a wave of nausea that reached up to grab the back of his throat. He swallowed and tried to ignore what his eyes were telling him as compared with what his inner ear kept screaming, and then he closed his eyes again and put his hands out in front of him to touch smooth metal.
"There have to be controls somewhere," he muttered.
He could feel Teal'c at his back-his presence a weight that itched at his shoulder blades-but a click and a hum distracted.
What the hell?
"Daniel Jackson!"
The words came out sharp, but something was happening to the wall so Daniel kept his eyes closed and leaned closer. Vibrations tickled his fingertips, then the prick of something sharp stung his left palm. Something hard grabbed his waist. He was spun fast. Instinct opened his eyes and he caught at Teal'c's arm. Squirming, his back held to Teal'c's chest, he tried to get loose-and jeeze the guy was big. And strong.
A sharp hiss ripped past him and something pulled at the sleeve of his jacket, and he stopped struggling. Twisting, he glanced over his shoulder.
Teal'c had stiffened, eyes so wide the whites of them almost glowed against his dark skin. Daniel felt the small tremors go through the other man. The arm holding him slackened, and Daniel staggered free and back two steps. "Teal'c?"
He put a hand out, but Teal'c simply fell forward, toppling like one of these trees would. Daniel stepped into him to catch him, and Teal'c weight took them both to the ground with a thud that pushed the air out of Daniel's chest.
Gasping, chest cold and a sharp ripping pain shooting up from his ankle, he pushed at Teal'c and called out his name. Damn! They were both going to die if they stayed like this. Squirming, he inched out from the couple hundred pounds pinning him, and he rolled, then glanced at his watch. They had a couple minutes of grace-and then he looked back at Teal'c.
Oh my god.
Pushing up to his knees, an insane comparison with porcupines dashed into his brain, and he choked back a near hysterical laugh because it wouldn't reassure Teal'c to hear that. It wouldn't do much for him, either. But-dear god-what the hell?
Dozens of black needles stuck out of Teal'c's back. They peppered the man's arms and legs, and Daniel glanced at down his own right arm and saw three stuck in the cloth of his jacket. They were a flat black and as he brushed them off he wondered if they were metal or organic. He looked at Teal'c again and tried to think.
Poison? A numbing agent? Something shot out of the wall to make you keep your hands away from any kind of controls. They'd missed him, had caught in his jacket instead, but Teal'c had caught the full onslaught.
More defenses and he really should have seen this coming.
"Teal'c!" he said again, making the name a plea for the guy to sit up and a curse at him for getting in the way of those needles. What did he think he was doing? And would he please just turn over and give him that single sardonic eyebrow that said he knew so much better than any simple-minded Tau'ri?
Please, just do that. And don't you dare die-I am so damn tired right now of people dying.
Reaching out, he started pulling out needles. They were only a couple inches long, and he went for the ones stuck in the back of Teal'c's shaved skull first, then for the ones in the dark-skinned neck. He wished they were white so they'd stand out more. He brushed at the ones caught up in cloth, and plucked at the ones embedded in skin. Blood welled, red and bright, and that was good-a natural agent to wash out infection.
He glanced at his watch again. They were out of time, so he stood, and took the time to prop the staff weapon on Teal'c's back. He really didn't want to see what would happen if something explosive interacted with this planet's defenses.
Wrapping his hands around one thick wrist, he dragged the guy, and Teal'c's weight pulled a soft grunt from him. This was not going to get them far, but he only had to go a few feet. He just had to move them. His grip slipped, so he dropped Teal'c's arm and bent to brush away more needles. He kept saying Teal'c's name over and over-like that was doing any good-and he swore he wasn't going to panic because he wasn't getting a response. But he was sick from the speed of his heart pounding, and light-headed from not being able to drag in a deep breath. He'd twisted his ankle when Teal'c fell on him and it throbbed hot against boot leather and lacing.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c another few feet.
By the time the needles were all out, Daniel had them back on the trail. He kept Teal'c there as he pulled off his own pack and dug for a first aid kit. He'd seen one when he'd gone through his pack to fit in his books. Now he pulled out the books, and the meal packets and the socks and everything else until he found the slim metal kit. He tucked it into his jacket, left everything else because it was time to drag Teal'c again. Six feet later he stopped.
Gasping for air, sweat stinging his eyes and plastering his hair to his forehead so he had to push it away with the back of his hand, he rested his back. He pulled Teal'c a few more feet, knelt and leaned on the unconscious Jaffa for a few breaths. Straightening, he pulled out the first aid kit from his jacket.
The damn thing'd better have something for snake bite.
It did.
He knew how to use it-snake bites had always been a worry on every dig he'd been on. He had no idea about how anti-venom would interact with Teal'c, but he didn't care. What he wanted was the suction pump. You couldn't suck out venom with your mouth-no way could anyone make a tight enough seal or apply enough pressure. But the kit had alcohol pads to disinfect, and benzocaine for pain, and a couple different sized plungers and suction cups. The holes at the back of Teal'c's neck were already puffing up, so Daniel ripped open the alcohol pad with shaking hands, wiped them down and covered the nearest punctures with the smaller cup. He fit the pump to the cup and pulled back on the plunger and clear liquid filled the tube along with blood.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c again.
Tucking the first aid kit back into his jacket, and thank god Teal'c had had his vest and a pack on to take the worse of those needles, he got them a few more feet down the path. Stopping again, he set to work on the next set of punctures to drag out whatever the hell had gone into Teal'c.
He worked methodically over the network of swelling, oozing dots on the back of Teal'c's neck and head, his hands steady now, but the tremors slide into his chest, leaving his breaths ragged and his stomach jumping.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c again.
He stopped and had to unzip Teal'c's vest. He pushed up the guy's shirt and jacket and he could finally let out a deep breath when he saw unblemished skin.
Then it was time to prop the staff weapon back on Teal'c and drag him again.
He found a few more punctures on Teal'c's arms. And the muscles along the back of his thighs cramped the next time he bent to drag Teal'c, but he couldn't stop. A burn had settled into his arms and shoulders and the blood in his ankle pulsed hot every time he stepped on it and he was sweating so much he shivered-and god, Teal'c's skin had become cold as well.
The next stop he was satisfied he'd gotten all the needles out, so he rolled Teal'c onto his back. Hoping that, other than the belly pouch, Jaffa physiology wasn't that different from humans, he touched his fingertips just under the jaw, at the carotid artery. Another word that went back to Old French, artaire, or arteria in Latin, and in the Greek aorta…and wasn't it odd that that word shared something with meteor; meta for beyond or over, and aoros for hovering, all related to aeirein, a beautiful way to say 'to raise'…
And, thank god, there was a quick, unsteady beat-and then Teal'c sat up.
He was used to walking-walking was fine. But he had the muscles for soft sand, not the calluses for hard metal that only looked like dirt. His feet hurt. From the burn he had going, he suspected a blister on the ball of his right foot, and another on his left heel. He wasn't about to stop and check. They'd had lunch on the go-some kind of military issue energy bars that actually weren't too bad washed down with warming water-but he ached for ten minutes to sit down. They didn't dare.
It'd taken just under five minutes for the paper to go poof, and when he'd torn up the wrapper from his power bar, he'd walked backwards, trailing bits of it. He timed each flash by counting the seconds. It took just under two minutes for the smaller scraps to turn into nothing, so the timing seemed to be related to the size of the item. But he wasn't sure what the reaction would be with living organic material. However, he didn't have any way to figure out further details without killing himself. Or Teal'c.
The blisters on the soles of his feet suggested the ground was heating up in spots any time they even paused-he'd swear he could smell the tread of his boots melting. Yes, another good thought that Jack wouldn't want to hear.
Daniel now officially hated this place.
Sweat stuck his shirt to his back, but at least there wasn't any dust or pollen-his allergies were fine. Teal'c's skin on the back of his shaved head and on his neck gleamed dark, and thank god for that. It would have been more than embarrassing if he'd been the only one getting toasted by just walking over endless hard ground.
In a way, the slower pace made everything worse. They had to balance slow with not too slow, which meant more focus-they couldn't fall into a ground-covering rhythm. It was also boring, seeing the same loop of scenery over and over.
Teal'c glanced at him now, that one eyebrow lifted-an exclamation point to underscore something he didn't understand. Or maybe he was smelling something bad. Then he asked, "Is that question rhetorical?"
Daniel thought back to what he'd just said about everything being uphill. He caught a faint gleam in the dark eyes-ah, that inappropriate humor Jack had been asking about. He started to smile back, and caught it, and had the heat notch higher under his collar. Well, damn-this wasn't expected, either. What-he'd forgotten already who this was? Ex-First Prime of Apophis, and god-literally that god-only knew what Teal'c's former job had entailed besides the killing that Daniel had witnessed. The man was-well, to be honest, Teal'c was just walking right now, keeping pace, glancing around. But the questions echoed hollow in Daniel's head-and so did the guilt. Trouble was, he couldn't shut up either of them.
"Teal'c?"
"Yes, Daniel Jackson?"
"Do you think less of me because I haven't..." How the hell did he put this-hadn't yelled, thrown a fit, punched the guy, asked for his head on a cafeteria tray or tried to take it?
No one had told him Teal'c's part in Sha're and Skaara's abductions, but he'd put a few inferred clues together. However, since it hadn't officially been mentioned, and no one was talking about it-at least to him-it seemed like a very large, very angry dog that he should leave sleeping. More illusion to keep going. But wasn't it better that way? If no one said anything, then no one had to do something, like put Teal'c on trial for war crimes. As if that would happen-if the bad stuff ever came up, they'd lock the guy away. That would leave Teal'c unable to be of any help to anyone, so why the hell was he even thinking about this?
His glance slipped away, and he wished the damn questions would go away just as easily right now. If he started in on them, he might not stop-and that wouldn't lead anywhere positive. He had to be practical-for the sake of Sha're and Skaara. So he should just stop.
"Because you have not what, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, and he sounded too patient and too reasonable. He just sounded like someone you could talk to who would actually think about an answer before giving one.
Lips pressed tight, Daniel shook his head and put his stare on the not-dirt ground. He wouldn't say it. Revenge was a stupid idea anyway. Would anything change if he just turned and shot Teal'c for what had been done?
And he could-well, in theory, he could.
He had a gun strapped to his leg and he could even get away with it. He could say Teal'c had gone crazy. Or he could let this world take care of the body-it'd turn Teal'c into so much smoke, so there wouldn't be a need to say much of anything. He had a dozen excuses and plenty of reasons.
But that wouldn't get him Sha're back.
Teal'c might, however.
If the guy felt bad enough about what he'd done-or just wanted change bad enough.
Daniel frowned as he thought of something else and it startled him enough that he stopped walking and looked at Teal'c. "Just how many worlds does Apophis hold? Places where he might be now?"
"Hundreds of systems. Not all with Stargates."
The ache that never left his chest these days tightened, but Daniel nodded and started walking again. Well, hundreds was better than thousands-or millions. He rubbed the heel of his hand over his breast bone-sternum from Latin, which came from the Greek, as did so many medical words. In this case, from sternon or chest…from the root that meant to stretch or extend, and related to stornynai, to spread out. Then he asked, "Just how long were you in service to Apophis?"
He glanced up to find Teal'c back to one of those patentable say nothing looks. God, the man was harder to read than early cuneiform.
"Years."
Well, that was as useful as the hundreds answers. Damnit, he'd known he shouldn't have started this. And he'd done it anyway. His steps had slowed, too-and he could swear he really did smell tread burning now. Catching up with Teal'c, he glanced at him again, caught only the man's profile-fixed and grim, a man who could kill others and not blink an eye in reaction. A guy with surprising softness if you looked for it-in the heavy fringe of long eyelashes and around the mouth when it wasn't pulled into that sour-mouthed grimace as if Teal'c really did keep smelling something really bad. But you had to look for it.
Of course, who was he to judge Teal'c?
He'd helped Jack nuke a ship and had shot more than a few people on Abydos, and he didn't think he looked like someone who could do that. And he wasn't all that sure he could shoot Teal'c now-which just irritated.
"Is that year in our years, or Chulakian years?" he asked.
Teal'c glanced at him, and Daniel thought he'd glimpsed humor in the man's face again, dry and sparse, as shocking as bright flowers against the dunes of a harsh desert. Daniel shifted his pack and said, "Dogs on Earth live about seven years for every human year. So you can have a dog that you've known sixteen years be a hundred and something."
"One hundred and twelve, if that is correct. I, however, have not been in Apophis' service my entire life. Nor have I been there for so many dog years."
"Just most of your life?" Trying to get a little ahead so he could see more of the other man's face, Daniel skipped a step. He had that tingle under his skin that came whenever he knew he was on the right track, headed toward an idea, but not quit there. If he couldn't leave this, he'd better get it to a resolution he could live with. Or at least work with. "How much of that did you spend wishing for things to be different?"
He thought he saw a hesitation-a ghosting shadow in the other man's eyes-but he didn't get so much as the flicker of a glance sent his way.
"To wish the universe to be other than it is is to invite discontent."
"Is that a quote? A philosophy that's passed on to generations of Jaffa to ensure the status quo? But change has to start with someone… something. A desire. A wish? Even a failed dream can be the spark that leads to more. In fact, we have a long history of people who failed-who died because of that they said or did or wanted. Their desire for change still managed to start something that wouldn't go away. That sounds...optimistically simple, doesn't it?"
"Yes. However, that does not mean it is not true."
"I suppose. Maybe truisms become trite by overuse, but that still doesn't manage to change the basic truth. But what's the truth here, Teal'c? When we showed up, were you waiting and planning-or just wishing for change?"
Teal'c did look at him this time. He didn't slow his pace, but he turned and stared for what seemed a very long time, and Daniel met the look. A few more pieces clicked into place for Daniel. He stepped forward and stopped and turned, blocking Teal'c, making him stop as well. "My god-you set up the whole thing, didn't you? On Chulak?"
"We must keep walking, Daniel Jackson."
"We will-when you answer."
Stepping to the side, Teal'c let his stride lengthen.
With a muffled curse, Daniel started after him. "What is it you don't want to admit-that you stacked the deck?"
"I do not understand-what is a deck?"
"It's, uh, a term for playing cards-something used in a game-and stacking it means you arrange the cards so the game goes the way you want. Were you setting up a palace guard with such bad training that the locals could revolt?"
Stopping, Teal'c turned and he pushed forward into Daniel's face so fast that Daniel stumbled back a step. "I would be without honor if I led into battle any man who did not have the training and skills to survive."
Harsh anger bit into the words, and Daniel wet his lips and put up his hands, palms out. He hadn't grown up with glasses and a deep love of books without learning to defuse this kind of male aggression. But then his mouth took off. "Yes-well, I didn't say otherwise. But those guards' shots still went wild. So like hell that was training. Besides, you didn't lead them. You turned and slaughtered them. Or is that just part of a Jaffa's training, too?"
Eyes narrowed, Teal'c stared at him, and then he turned and started walking again. "We must continue."
For an insane second, Daniel considered just sitting down. Childish, of course, but it would have given him the satisfaction of forcing Teal'c back here to finish this. Since that wasn't an option, he started walking again. He considered letting the distance between them widen-a rather blunt visual metaphor, but what the hell. So he went ahead and did it, drifting to the side to walk through trees.
Odd that, even knowing they weren't there, they'd been avoiding the seeming obstacles. Now he strode through trunks wider than his shoulders, had trees dissolve into shivers around him. It didn't feel like anything-no tingle, no change in pressure. But he noted the automatic hesitation that kept cropping up just before his face impacted a not-there tree. He started closing his eyes just before he hit the edge of the gnarled bark-then left them closed.
"Daniel Jackson!"
Opening his eyes, he glanced at Teal'c. "What?"
"You have gone off the trail."
"And that matters?"
Teal'c didn't seem to have anything to say, just stared at him, looking a little startled. Jack got that same look sometimes, so Daniel said, "Until Jack and Sam find us, aren't we just killing time?"
He shifted his stare away and bit the inside of his lower lip. Not the most tactful phrase to use, given what he'd been trying to discuss with Teal'c. Closing his eyes again, he started walking.
"Daniel Jackson!"
Mouth pressed tight, he opened his eyes and glanced at Teal'c again. He threw up a hand. "You think I'm going to get more lost or something? Walk off a cliff? Into a rock?" He waited for an answer, but he hadn't left one there for Teal'c, so he threw both hands wide now and said, "I'm a little tired of being manipulated by what someone wants me to see."
Closing his eyes again, he struck off in a straight line. This place couldn't be endless, but they could be kept away from walls with slight shifts in the scenery. They were being guided, kept to a track, and he was done with that. Teal'c could either follow him-or he could keep to his own damn path.
He heard a light step behind him, got distracted by how a guy that big could move with such silence, then put his focus on walking straight.
He smacked into a wall a lot sooner than he'd expected.
Stepped back, nose stinging, eyes watering, he blinked and put his hands up, but his nose wasn't bleeding.
He was, however, in the middle of shimmering trees-a dense stand of them. It was a little unsettling to have them flickering in and out of existence, as if reality wasn't stable, and his stomach turned on a wave of nausea that reached up to grab the back of his throat. He swallowed and tried to ignore what his eyes were telling him as compared with what his inner ear kept screaming, and then he closed his eyes again and put his hands out in front of him to touch smooth metal.
"There have to be controls somewhere," he muttered.
He could feel Teal'c at his back-his presence a weight that itched at his shoulder blades-but a click and a hum distracted.
What the hell?
"Daniel Jackson!"
The words came out sharp, but something was happening to the wall so Daniel kept his eyes closed and leaned closer. Vibrations tickled his fingertips, then the prick of something sharp stung his left palm. Something hard grabbed his waist. He was spun fast. Instinct opened his eyes and he caught at Teal'c's arm. Squirming, his back held to Teal'c's chest, he tried to get loose-and jeeze the guy was big. And strong.
A sharp hiss ripped past him and something pulled at the sleeve of his jacket, and he stopped struggling. Twisting, he glanced over his shoulder.
Teal'c had stiffened, eyes so wide the whites of them almost glowed against his dark skin. Daniel felt the small tremors go through the other man. The arm holding him slackened, and Daniel staggered free and back two steps. "Teal'c?"
He put a hand out, but Teal'c simply fell forward, toppling like one of these trees would. Daniel stepped into him to catch him, and Teal'c weight took them both to the ground with a thud that pushed the air out of Daniel's chest.
Gasping, chest cold and a sharp ripping pain shooting up from his ankle, he pushed at Teal'c and called out his name. Damn! They were both going to die if they stayed like this. Squirming, he inched out from the couple hundred pounds pinning him, and he rolled, then glanced at his watch. They had a couple minutes of grace-and then he looked back at Teal'c.
Oh my god.
Pushing up to his knees, an insane comparison with porcupines dashed into his brain, and he choked back a near hysterical laugh because it wouldn't reassure Teal'c to hear that. It wouldn't do much for him, either. But-dear god-what the hell?
Dozens of black needles stuck out of Teal'c's back. They peppered the man's arms and legs, and Daniel glanced at down his own right arm and saw three stuck in the cloth of his jacket. They were a flat black and as he brushed them off he wondered if they were metal or organic. He looked at Teal'c again and tried to think.
Poison? A numbing agent? Something shot out of the wall to make you keep your hands away from any kind of controls. They'd missed him, had caught in his jacket instead, but Teal'c had caught the full onslaught.
More defenses and he really should have seen this coming.
"Teal'c!" he said again, making the name a plea for the guy to sit up and a curse at him for getting in the way of those needles. What did he think he was doing? And would he please just turn over and give him that single sardonic eyebrow that said he knew so much better than any simple-minded Tau'ri?
Please, just do that. And don't you dare die-I am so damn tired right now of people dying.
Reaching out, he started pulling out needles. They were only a couple inches long, and he went for the ones stuck in the back of Teal'c's shaved skull first, then for the ones in the dark-skinned neck. He wished they were white so they'd stand out more. He brushed at the ones caught up in cloth, and plucked at the ones embedded in skin. Blood welled, red and bright, and that was good-a natural agent to wash out infection.
He glanced at his watch again. They were out of time, so he stood, and took the time to prop the staff weapon on Teal'c's back. He really didn't want to see what would happen if something explosive interacted with this planet's defenses.
Wrapping his hands around one thick wrist, he dragged the guy, and Teal'c's weight pulled a soft grunt from him. This was not going to get them far, but he only had to go a few feet. He just had to move them. His grip slipped, so he dropped Teal'c's arm and bent to brush away more needles. He kept saying Teal'c's name over and over-like that was doing any good-and he swore he wasn't going to panic because he wasn't getting a response. But he was sick from the speed of his heart pounding, and light-headed from not being able to drag in a deep breath. He'd twisted his ankle when Teal'c fell on him and it throbbed hot against boot leather and lacing.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c another few feet.
By the time the needles were all out, Daniel had them back on the trail. He kept Teal'c there as he pulled off his own pack and dug for a first aid kit. He'd seen one when he'd gone through his pack to fit in his books. Now he pulled out the books, and the meal packets and the socks and everything else until he found the slim metal kit. He tucked it into his jacket, left everything else because it was time to drag Teal'c again. Six feet later he stopped.
Gasping for air, sweat stinging his eyes and plastering his hair to his forehead so he had to push it away with the back of his hand, he rested his back. He pulled Teal'c a few more feet, knelt and leaned on the unconscious Jaffa for a few breaths. Straightening, he pulled out the first aid kit from his jacket.
The damn thing'd better have something for snake bite.
It did.
He knew how to use it-snake bites had always been a worry on every dig he'd been on. He had no idea about how anti-venom would interact with Teal'c, but he didn't care. What he wanted was the suction pump. You couldn't suck out venom with your mouth-no way could anyone make a tight enough seal or apply enough pressure. But the kit had alcohol pads to disinfect, and benzocaine for pain, and a couple different sized plungers and suction cups. The holes at the back of Teal'c's neck were already puffing up, so Daniel ripped open the alcohol pad with shaking hands, wiped them down and covered the nearest punctures with the smaller cup. He fit the pump to the cup and pulled back on the plunger and clear liquid filled the tube along with blood.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c again.
Tucking the first aid kit back into his jacket, and thank god Teal'c had had his vest and a pack on to take the worse of those needles, he got them a few more feet down the path. Stopping again, he set to work on the next set of punctures to drag out whatever the hell had gone into Teal'c.
He worked methodically over the network of swelling, oozing dots on the back of Teal'c's neck and head, his hands steady now, but the tremors slide into his chest, leaving his breaths ragged and his stomach jumping.
Then it was time to drag Teal'c again.
He stopped and had to unzip Teal'c's vest. He pushed up the guy's shirt and jacket and he could finally let out a deep breath when he saw unblemished skin.
Then it was time to prop the staff weapon back on Teal'c and drag him again.
He found a few more punctures on Teal'c's arms. And the muscles along the back of his thighs cramped the next time he bent to drag Teal'c, but he couldn't stop. A burn had settled into his arms and shoulders and the blood in his ankle pulsed hot every time he stepped on it and he was sweating so much he shivered-and god, Teal'c's skin had become cold as well.
The next stop he was satisfied he'd gotten all the needles out, so he rolled Teal'c onto his back. Hoping that, other than the belly pouch, Jaffa physiology wasn't that different from humans, he touched his fingertips just under the jaw, at the carotid artery. Another word that went back to Old French, artaire, or arteria in Latin, and in the Greek aorta…and wasn't it odd that that word shared something with meteor; meta for beyond or over, and aoros for hovering, all related to aeirein, a beautiful way to say 'to raise'…
And, thank god, there was a quick, unsteady beat-and then Teal'c sat up.