Archaeology (30a/30)
Title: Archaeology ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1a-- 1b Chapter2 Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7a-- 7b Chapter8 Chapter9a-- 9b Chapter10 Chapter11 Chapter12a-- 12b Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14a-- 14b Chapter15a-- 15b Chapter16a-- 16b Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18 Chapter19a-- 19b Chapter20a-- 20b Chapter21 Chapter22a-- 22b Chapter23 Chapter24 Chapter25 Chapter26 Chapter27a-- 27b Chapter28 Chapter29
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Epilogue: Life
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15 July 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1900 hrs
Jack kicked Daniel's foot under the table. Daniel jerked back awake.
"I know you're all tired," Hammond said. "We're nearly done, and then you can--"
"Chulak," Daniel said in his typically incomprehensible way. "We should go to," he added, and then, a second later, "Sir."
"The Jaffa rebellion is rapidly gaining strength on Chulak," Teal'c explained, because few could understand a Daniel who'd just woken up, "but they are hindered by those who still believe in the Goa'uld. Perhaps news of Apophis's death will convince them further."
Hammond sighed. "All right, but I insist that you get at least a night's rest first before going anywhere. Chulak is still dangerous, even with both Bra'tac and Rak'nor helping. And," he added to Jacob, "you'll want to go to Revanna. I'll call them immediately and let them know, but checking in with them and reviewing security is probably a more urgent first trip than Chulak."
"Uh...Revanna, sir?" Carter repeated.
"It's the name of the planet where the Tok'ra are building their new base," Major Davis filled in.
"It's been our backup plan for months," Jacob said. "Before we thought it would be possible to use a Goa'uld mothership to move the Stargate to an uncharted planet, we'd been considering Revanna as a possibility. If a better option comes up, we'll move again, but not before we take some time to gather more of our resources."
"So that's about it, sir," Jack said. "Apophis's fleet was destroyed by the supernova, Apophis's ship was destroyed by the Replicators, and Apophis and the Replicators were destroyed by Earth's atmosphere." Lots of destruction, but none of it had been his people or his team, so for now, he was okay with that.
"In addition," Martouf added, "we have learned never to attempt to enter hyperspace at the exact moment of a supernova event while flying within that system."
Carter suppressed a smile. Jack tried to figure out whether that was a joke--did Martouf joke?--and couldn't tell.
"Speaking of that," Hammond said, "there were Tok'ra scout ships in the area just before the supernova. They left before you did and didn't see what happened, but they did record a few odd events that I was hoping you'd be able to explain."
"Well, two of the events would've been us and Apophis going into hyperspace," Jacob said. "But there was something else? Another subspace window?"
"Yes," Hammond said. "A single al'kesh was spotted entering hyperspace significantly before you--minutes before the supernova. We've been fearing that that meant Apophis escaped the blast that destroyed his fleet."
"But we know for a fact that Apophis was still on the mothership when we landed in the other galaxy," Carter filled in, frowning. "Who else would've jumped ship and escaped? A Jaffa?"
"It is unlikely that a Jaffa would escape from such a situation himself, especially without allowing Apophis to be saved in his place," Teal'c said. Jack had to agree--it was that subservience and the willingness of Jaffa to act as living shields and cannon-fodder that let SG personnel win against them, at least some of the time.
"Were there minor Goa'uld onboard?" Daniel said, and then his eyes widened. "Oh..."
"Tanith," Teal'c realized.
"He wasn't on Vorash when the system was destroyed?" Davis spoke up, paging through what was probably all the data pieced together from the past few days.
Carter shook her head. "No--Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill shot down the al'kesh that was going to pick him up, but Apophis's fleet arrived early. Daniel and I found another al'kesh hovering just over the rings on Vorash, and we saw Tanith escape using the rings. He wouldn't have wanted to go back to Apophis after he'd failed and had nothing to show for it, but he might have taken that al'kesh--"
"--and escaped again," Teal'c said.
"There's nothing we can do about it now," Jack said.
He'd known that Teal'c had a vengeful streak a few miles wide, but it had scared even him a little, the way Teal'c had acted and refused to listen to reason on that death glider zooming toward Vorash. On this team, not everyone seemed to understand the limits of the chain of command and he was used to it by now, but with Teal'c, there was usually a good reason for disobedience and a good risk-benefit assessment behind it. He'd never be able to trust Teal'c around Tanith again, and he hated not being able to trust everyone on his team, even if only in certain circumstances.
Then again, there were circumstances in which Carter and Daniel had to be watched carefully, too. When something made Carter doubt her orders, the orders usually won out if they were from Jack or Hammond, but it made her too hesitant. When Daniel decided he was more morally right than everyone else, sometimes he was right (and sometimes he was wrong), but it made him dangerously reckless.
Jack supposed he should just be grateful those circumstances didn't usually overlap. If there was one thing their team did well most of the time, it was making up for each other.
"If Tanith escaped," Jacob said, "then he's got no armies, no support, and no one backing him. In fact, rumor might get to other System Lords that Tanith was played by the Tok'ra. No one will take him in. If he wants to pose a threat, he'll have to start from scratch."
"Unfortunately," Daniel said, "sometimes being a Goa'uld seems to be enough to gain support from humans and Jaffa troops. The god thing."
Jack shook his head and repeated firmly, "Nothing we can do now. Sir, I recommend we keep Tanith in mind, but there's no way we can actively look for him."
"I agree, Colonel," Hammond said.
Turning to Davis, Jack said, "And sorry about the fireball in the sky. What did your bosses say?"
Davis sighed. "We're calling it a meteor."
Jacob snorted.
"Yes, sir," Davis agreed. "Luckily, the Russian government is cooperating and confirming that they saw it burn up in our atmosphere. As for the death gliders, we don't think there was any footage taken, but a couple of odd reports have come in. We're denying all of it and insinuating it might have been a test flight for a new class of stealth aircraft."
"It's not very stealthy if people saw and reported it," Daniel pointed out.
"Got a better story?" Jack said.
"Uh...no," Daniel admitted.
"And with that," Hammond said, standing up, "I think we're done here. All of you get some sleep, and then you can start spreading the news to our allies."
Major Davis followed Hammond into his office. Jack fought the urge to sit back down and fall asleep right here. If he sat down now, it meant he'd just have to get back up and walk to the bunkroom in a minute.
"So...Revanna tomorrow?" Jacob said.
"Yeah, we can go first thing," Jack said.
Daniel yawned again. "Sometimes I think the follow-up, clean-up missions are the hardest. No adrenaline rush to go along with the sleep deprivation."
"Then perhaps you should begin to sleep as soon as possible," Teal'c suggested.
"Yeah, okay," Daniel said, starting to lay his head on the table until Teal'c hauled him to his feet by the back of his shirt.
"Unless you wish otherwise," Martouf said, "I think I should remain here on the base while you contact our allies. I have had my share of adventures with SG-1. Perhaps one day Lantash and another host may join you again."
"Martouf..." Carter said in a tone that meant Jack was missing something.
"That won't be for years yet," Daniel said casually, but not casually enough that Jack couldn't tell there was something un-casual about it. A quick look at Teal'c and Jacob showed that they didn't understand the subtext, either, but then, Carter spent a lot more time with Martouf than any of them, and Daniel was more blunt than Jack about asking questions of the Tok'ra.
Still, Jack said, "Well, that was some nice work you did yesterday and today--couldn't've done it without you. Let us know if you want to come with us again sometime."
With a smile, Martouf nodded to him. "Thank you, Colonel. And all of you--I admit it was good to be on a mission again."
"I'm just glad you can fly Goa'uld aircraft," Jack said honestly.
"Come on," Carter said, beginning to shepherd him and her father of the room. "Dad, I can get you a room for the night, and we should all get some rest. I'll walk up with you guys."
XXXXX
16 July 2001; Revanna; 0900 hrs
"We're back," Dad announced when they managed to find the ring platform that led to the new Tok'ra base.
Sam looked around, amazed by how much had already been built in...what, three days? Of course, they had those crystal-forming crystals to help them create tunnels, but still, even the ring platform itself must have taken quite a bit of labor. She wondered suddenly where they'd gotten a set of rings, then remembered the Tok'ra had a couple of ships that usually had rings on them. She really had to ask how something like that got dismantled properly.
"Welcome," Ren'al said, inclining her head slightly. "I told General Hammond days ago that I did not believe you could be alive. I am pleased to find that I was wrong."
"I feel so loved," Colonel O'Neill deadpanned.
"We're glad you were able to settle here safely, even though the original plan didn't work, Councilor," Daniel said. "If you need help setting up or replacing any equipment you lost on Vorash, General Hammond has offered our aid."
Sam felt a shift next to her and glanced up to see Teal'c with a tiny, almost-smile on his lips, and she grinned back at him. It was never not going to be nice, not having to play diplomat anymore to the colonel's more undiplomatic ways.
"You were able to escape through hyperspace before the star system was destroyed, then?" Ren'al asked.
"In a way," Sam said. "It's a...long story, but the gist of it is that the only casualty on our side after we left Vorash was Cronus's mothership. Apophis and a large chunk of his forces are dead, and we're alive."
Ren'al's expression intensified. "There is no question? We had feared that--"
"Apophis wasn't the one who escaped at Vorash," the colonel interjected. "We think that was Tanith. Apophis is definitely"--he glanced at Teal'c--"very dead. No question."
Selmak had taken over at some point without Sam's realizing it and said, "I cannot think of anything Tanith could reveal about our current position, but it is a matter that must be carefully considered if he is indeed at large."
As much as she'd come to like Selmak, it was still really weird hearing that voice and that inflection coming out of her dad's mouth. Weirder still was that she was actually starting to get used to it.
"So..." Daniel was saying. "Is there anything we can do to help you finish moving in while we're here?"
The colonel made a half-turn, wearing his favorite shut-up-Daniel expression. Before he could speak up, Ren'al said, "Much of our technology is incompatible with yours--or, rather, attempting to interface them in such a way would drastically reduce efficiency."
"In other words, you want to get your own equipment," Sam said. "But if you'd like, we can still lend a hand to shift things around if you need the help, or set up what equipment you managed to bring. It must be pretty hectic around here, and security must still be an issue."
The colonel made up a new shut-up-Carter expression on the spot.
Finally, Ren'al nodded. "Very well. That would be appreciated, Major Carter."
...x...
Sam lay under a console with Daniel. She was trying to slot another crystal into a stubborn control panel when a small child zoomed past her, followed by Colonel O'Neill.
And then Teal'c zoomed after them both, which made her sit up so fast she cracked her head on the bottom of the panel.
"Ouch," Daniel said, wincing vicariously as she bit her lip and pressed a hand to the top of her head. "You okay?"
Instead of answering, Sam slid out from under the station where they'd been working. "Was that...?"
"Jack," Daniel said, crawling out to join her.
"And--"
"Teal'c."
"Huh," she said. "And was that--?"
"Charlie," Daniel said, nodding.
Well, of course. It wasn't like the Tok'ra kept many children around. "The genetically engineered Reetou boy with all the organ failure?"
"I'm sure there's a more politically correct term," he said, his tone just this side of chiding.
Sam glanced at him and saw him watching the others play, which seemed to consist mostly of Charlie running around in circles while the colonel chased him and Teal'c planted himself as an obstacle around which to run. "I just wasn't sure we were still calling him Charlie," she admitted. "Because of...you know. The colonel."
"Oh," he said thoughtfully. "I guess so. But he does still go by Charlie, and Jack doesn't seem to mind... Well. Everyone still calls him that, anyway."
Charlie squeaked and clutched Teal'c's legs from behind. Teal'c backed into a wall to prevent the colonel from reaching the boy, which incited a brief, upright wrestling match that just barely avoided squashing Charlie but made him giggle.
She wondered what it would have been like to meet her older teammates under different circumstances, with Charlie O'Neill and Rya'c as children underfoot instead of as ghosts and fugitives. She slid carefully back under the table. "Can you read that for me?" she said, pointing at the diagnostic screen positioned next to the control panel that indicated what repair needed to be done. "I still can't get the power back, and I'm not sure what's wrong."
A few moments later, Daniel was wriggling into place, lying next to her and, blinking up at the screen. "Um," he said. "It says the circuit isn't closed."
"Of course it is," she said, frowning, then groaned. "Unless one of the crystals is broken."
"Can't you tell if one's broken?" he said.
"Not always, if it's not obvious," Sam said, reaching up with a hand to explore the panel by touch. "Here, I'm going to hand you the crystals one by one to test." She carefully pulled the first one out of the panel above her. "You see the slot where it goes in on the diagnostic computer?"
Daniel accepted the crystal but paused before putting it in. "Does the direction matter? Oh, never mind--it only fits one way."
A minute later, he pulled it back out and said, "This one's fine."
They continued testing crystals until Daniel jumped, sitting up and cracking his head on the bottom of the console. "Ow--Charlie, don't--"
"I did nothing!" Charlie's voice said from farther down. "But I told you not to play under the tables."
Sam raised her head enough to look out and just barely saw Colonel O'Neill letting go of Daniel's leg a little guiltily. "Sir," she complained.
"Jack, that was you? What was that for?" Daniel groaned, rubbing his forehead and straightening his pant leg where the colonel had grabbed him.
"Just wanted to see if I could make you jump," the colonel said. "Blame Teal'c."
"Why would I blame--"
"I'm just saying," the colonel said.
"You should stop making bets with Teal'c." With a sharp exhale through his nose, Daniel pulled his legs out of the man's reach, muttering, "You can be so childish sometimes."
Sam bit her lips, then had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing. Daniel turned and glared at her, which made a snort escape.
By the time she'd composed herself, the colonel had run off again and Charlie's chattering could be heard.
"You're going to make fun of the person translating for you?" Daniel said grumpily, but even as he said it, he was slotting another crystal into the computer for it to run its diagnostic.
"Uh-huh," Sam said, grinning and knowing he'd be distracted soon, anyway.
The colonel was like this. On a mission, or when it really mattered, they could usually count on his attempts at humor to be purposeful--morale-raising sometimes, or a way to make them annoyed at him instead of worried about their circumstances, or a distraction for people who weren't familiar with him. When he was bored, though, and they weren't in imminent danger of dying and were in the presence of small children...well. All bets were off.
Also, Daniel was distracted again and no longer grumpy.
"It says that the current..." he started, then stopped. "Uh...I think this is talking about resistance."
Sam glanced at the last crystal to be tested. There was no damage she could see, but she asked, "What about the resistance?"
"It's too high?"
"Is that a question or an answer?"
In answer, Daniel pulled the crystal back out. "Anyway, something's wrong with this crystal," he said. She accepted it and set it carefully aside in the pile of crystals to be examined. "Is that it?"
"We'll have to get a replacement, and then...yeah, I think that's it for this panel," she said, pushing herself back out from under the console. "Just two more on this thing and it should be good to go."
He crawled back out and joined her. A high peal of laughter made them both turn, but O'Neill, Teal'c, and Charlie must have taken their playing out of sight. Daniel leaned over her work to peer at the circuits inside. "Can I ask you a question?" he said, reaching a finger in as if to touch a panel until she grabbed his hand to stop him.
"Sure," she said.
"Um... The other, uh...Harlan's SG-1," he said, then paused again. "Well. I just mean that they were so different and...so similar. Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if they could have come back with you the first time?"
Sam started to think of the possibilities and quickly shut it down to point out, "They had power limitations. Even with that pack they invented, they only would've lasted forty-eight hours, max."
"But what if they hadn't had power limitations?"
"There would have been security issues--or the NID or even someone else would have caused more trouble."
"But what if, Sam?"
She sighed. "If they hadn't, and there weren't, then they wouldn't've been them, and it's a moot point."
Daniel brooded on that for a few moments while she turned back around to check the other systems on the console they'd been working on. He folded his arms and passively watched her work, which could only mean that he was still thinking. She opened a panel and examined the circuitry inside.
"All right," she said, "to start off, I need...four green ones. No--five."
"What was she like?" he said suddenly, even as he handed crystals up to her. "I barely even saw the other...well...you. Captain Carter."
("They're protected by a force field," Sam said, shaking her stinging hands.
"Switch with me," her double said. "I'll do it.")
"I barely got to talk to her, either," Sam said. She slotted a green crystal in. "Not enough time."
"What do you think of them?" he pressed. "Or what did you think of them when you first met them, when they were still basically you?"
It was hard getting into these discussions with Daniel. It was like watching a cold, bloody dissection--he peeled back each layer and cut right to the heart of it, but once he was there, he wasn't squeamish; he could wrap everything in layers of theory and present it as a heart without a flinch. She wasn't sure if he realized that not everyone could dig so far without getting sucked all the way in. Was she supposed to feel ashamed that the other her had died so that she and the rest could live, or should she be proud that she would have done that, since they were so much the same? Or had they been separate enough that she didn't have a claim to either shame or pride?
"I think the colonels would've fought a lot," she finally said. "Or one would've moved...somewhere. They wouldn't've lived together on base."
"Mm," Daniel said, tilting his head. "It wouldn't help that they're not equal. The other O'Neill would always be faster and stronger, but our Jack would get all the rank and authority from people on Earth, just for being human."
Personally, Sam thought that being human wasn't 'just' anything. She had thought that, anyway, until she'd watched her other self die doing something Sam herself couldn't do.
"The Teal'cs would've ignored each other," Daniel said. He glanced at her and gave her an almost-nudge with his elbow that didn't quite make contact, and she realized he was trying to turn it into a game of speculation to take the edge off. "Yeah?"
"Uh...yeah, maybe," she said, finally acquiescing. "I think I would've gotten along with the other me. She must've been--"
"Smarter?"
Sam wrinkled her nose. "Better at calculations," she conceded. Faster, stronger, better...
"It would be the same thing between you two as between the Jacks," Daniel suggested. "It would just take longer and be more polite. You're too competitive. She would always be better than you at math and computers, and you'd go on missions while she was stuck on base to recharge, and you would be promoted while she stayed Captain."
She didn't think the US Air Force would give a robot a promotion and a raise. Still, the words stung, even though she couldn't claim any of it wasn't true. "Not Teal'c?" she said.
"Actually," Daniel said, "I don't think he'd have cared about having someone stronger and...and more accurate with weapons than he was on base. But the part about not having a Goa'uld in his abdomen..."
"Yeah," she acknowledged. "That's true. Although...it might not turn ugly with them. The other Teal'c wouldn't have gloated about it or anything, not to an ally." And their Teal'c might be envious, but he wouldn't begrudge the other the lack of a Goa'uld.
"Oh," Daniel said suddenly.
She raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"
"I get it now. The Teal'cs would be allies and they'd work together in the field and probably make a scary team, but they wouldn't be friends. All of you would be like that, at best--you can't share a life."
Sam thought about that as she took the notebook out of Daniel's pocket and jotted down what crystals needed to be replaced for this console.
"Sure you can," she said eventually, ripping out a sheet and flipping the rest shut.
Daniel looked up, startled, clearly having moved on to a different thought. "Can what?"
"Share a life," she said. "The four of us. Sometimes it feels like we're practically living in each others' pockets." As if to prove it, she gave the notebook and pen back to Daniel, who didn't even seem to notice when she stuck it directly into his pocket for him.
He narrowed his eyes as he pushed the last panel shut. "Maybe that's true," he said. "Can't share a life with yourself, then." She imagined what would have happen if Daniel had been duplicated with the rest of them. Maybe the two would have gotten along and talked about stuff like this. Maybe the robot would resent never getting past fourteen years old in appearance--and in respect--while the original would be frustrated that he couldn't solve language puzzles as fast. "But I still wish--"
"Yeah," she said. "I know."
He nodded, frowning thoughtfully at the ground. "We should replace these," he finally said, nudging a toe at the pile of damaged crystals. "Are there more backups somewhere?"
Sam beckoned. "This way. I think I saw a store of a lot of them for people to use."
"It's a good thing you know how to fix these things," Daniel said as they moved down the corridor. "Now you just have to learn to fly a ship."
Smiling, she said, "We're gonna be tinkering with Cronus's gliders to see if there's any sort of failsafe trap left in them, but either way, as soon as the X-302 is done, I'm getting some flying lessons in."
"What's the good of having a Tok'ra father if you don't get flying lessons?" Daniel agreed, raising his eyebrows so innocently that he had to be teasing someone.
She realized why a second later when her dad stepped into view, shaking his head. "Just for that, no lessons for you," her dad told Daniel.
"I can get Teal'c to teach me if we have to learn," Daniel said, unconcerned.
"How's it going with the Council, Dad?" Sam said.
"How does anything ever go with any council?" Dad answered. "It's busy. You? Saying long?"
"Just long enough to fix one more thing, and then we'll probably go," she said, a little reluctantly.
"Yeah, I need to get back to the Council and go over a few things," Dad said, grimacing. "Just wanted to see you before you take off. I'll see you soon, all right?"
"Sure," she said, suppressing the disappointment that never completely disappeared when they had to go separate ways. "I'm looking forward to our next mission."
He hugged her quickly and then gave her a mock-stern look. "No more destruction of celestial bodies while I'm gone."
"That wasn't--" she started. "That was partly you and Selmak, too."
"If you say so," he said. "You're going to Chulak next? Take care of yourselves." He started down the corridor and called back, "And try to keep Jack out of trouble."
XXXXX
17 July 2001; Chulak; 0900 hrs
"We need to learn to stay out of trouble," O'Neill said once there were no longer bodies pinning them to the ground.
Teal'c stood up and looked at Bra'tac in the dark of night while his companions brushed themselves off and pushed themselves to their feet, as well. "Bra'tac--" he started.
"Not here," Bra'tac interrupted quietly. A quick gesture to the other, hooded Jaffa who surrounded them was enough to send them ahead and into the woods around them. "Come."
O'Neill and Major Carter exchanged worried glances, but Teal'c nodded to both to tell them it was no more dangerous than usual. Bra'tac was still waiting impatiently, so Teal'c gestured for Daniel Jackson to follow and fell into place at his side, O'Neill and Major Carter guarding from behind.
Soft rustling came from around them as they walked, as of footsteps on leaves. Teal'c gritted his teeth and restrained himself from turning to find the source of the noise--it was undoubtedly the scouts Bra'tac had sent ahead of them. None of his human companions seemed to notice--Teal'c suspected that even many Jaffa would not have noticed--but he saw Bra'tac shake his head when someone's foot fell too heavily in the distance, and he knew there would be a harder training lesson the next day.
The camps where the kresh'ta lived were no longer mere camps. They were much bigger, though not extravagant--Teal'c knew now, as the Goa'uld had still to learn and the rebels understood well, that extravagance was a waste of power and resources that could be better used otherwise. A System Lord could afford the waste, perhaps, when few had dared to challenge them until now; a camp of rebels could not.
And these were no longer kresh'ta. This was where they lived who hated the Goa'uld, and while they might always be in danger while the Goa'uld lived, they were no longer the outcasts on this planet. Apophis had been too harsh too many times with his subjects here, and he had wrongly chosen a time of growing rebellion to do so.
But Teal'c had not expected to walk past all of the small homes and into the main part of the city.
Wary--for they had come to deliver news, not to seek battle--Teal'c touched a hand to Bra'ta'c's arm to catch his attention.
'What is it?' Bra'tac's expression said.
Teal'c gripped his staff weapon on one hand and asked with the other, 'Where?'
Bra'tac smiled, a tiny life of one half of his mouth. 'Wait and see,' he meant.
There was a large house beginning to come into view when Teal'c felt something nearby and whirled around, staff weapon priming. Another weapon was aimed at his chest already, and he froze, still holding his position.
His opponent was not moving and wore a hooded robe that covered his face too well to see in the dark. A glance to Teal'c's side showed Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter both aiming their weapons at others, out of Teal'c's line of sight; another glance the other way showed that Daniel Jackson had his gun in his hand but did not seem to know where to aim it. Too many.
And Bra'tac...had not moved.
"Tal bet," Bra'tac ordered.
Teal'c waited for his opponent to lower his weapon before obeying reluctantly as well.
"Lower your weapons," Daniel Jackson said, looking at O'Neill and Major Carter.
"Why?" O'Neill said.
"You are among friends," Teal'c's opponent said, then tipped his hood back.
"Rak'nor," Teal'c recognized. His unease was replaced with satisfaction. These men--he looked around and found five other Jaffa surrounding them--had been trained well. Young though Rak'nor might be, he was a worthy warrior.
Rak'nor inclined his head slightly. "Come inside," he said.
...x...
"Nice digs," O'Neill said, whistling as he looked around the luxurious home.
"You should not be here," Bra'tac scolded once the door had closed behind them.
"Where is here?" Daniel Jackson asked, turning in a circle to look around.
"The home of Fro'tak of the High Cliffs," Bra'tac said, glancing at Teal'c.
"He is the one of whom I spoke before," Teal'c told Daniel Jackson, "who worked as a scribe in the Hall of Records."
"Only until Apophis betrayed us," Fro'tak's familiar voice said. Teal'c turned, smiling widely to see the friend he had not seen in years. "Now, my home--and others like this one--is a refuge for those who follow Bra'tac."
"And Teal'c," Daniel Jackson said loyally. "Bra'tac and Teal'c."
Bra'tac and Rak'nor knew of Daniel Jackson's ways already and did not react. Fro'tak looked at him, then glanced past to where O'Neill and Major Carter were standing. "Of course, child--and Teal'c," Fro'tak said, in the way that one might speak to a young Jaffa of Daniel Jackson's age.
The Tau'ri and the Tok'ra so rarely spoke to Daniel Jackson in that way anymore that he seemed surprised. Teal'c stepped forward and said with more than a little pride, "Not a child--this is the warrior who held Cronus at bay as I killed him eight days ago--"
"Cronus!" Bra'tac said, surprised.
"--and killed Apophis beside me two days ago," Teal'c finished. Daniel Jackson gave him an odd look but did not interrupt. The Jaffa who stood around Fro'tak's house became very still. "Apophis is dead."
When someone finally answered, it was Rak'nor. "We have heard that before," Rak'nor said.
"Never before did we watch Apophis die and then destroy the body ourselves," Teal'c said.
"That's the trick," O'Neill spoke up, his tone light but his eyes hard. "Can't come back to life when there's nothing left to come back to."
Rak'nor believed them, as did Bra'tac, because they trusted the word of Teal'c and SG-1. A man deceived was the most dangerous enemy--it was what would have made Rak'nor a formidable opponent after his father had been killed by Apophis, and it was what would now make Rak'nor a formidable ally after he had seen Heru-ur die.
But there were others who looked unsure, and Teal'c had had enough of believing without knowing. "You do not have to trust us," he told the room of waiting ears. "If you are here, then you know already that Apophis and the Goa'uld are not worth your worship. We can give you nothing but our word that Apophis will never return here."
"Now, that doesn't mean no one else will," Major Carter said. Teal'c saw a few of the Jaffa shift in their place, perhaps as uncomfortable to see a woman with a weapon as he himself had been at the start. "Cronus is dead, and so is Apophis. As you know, there are plenty more where they came from, and some might see Chulak as a place to recruit people into their armies. "
"As Heru-ur did before he died," Rak'nor spoke up. "But we will not fall to any Goa'uld."
"But Apophis is--" someone started, then stopped.
"A god?" O'Neill said, raising his eyebrows.
"Powerful," the Jaffa retorted.
"Well, his blood was all over these guys' hands a couple of days ago," O'Neill said. "If one Jaffa and his human student can do that, imagine what an army of Jaffa can do."
"It wasn’t just Teal'c and me," Daniel Jackson said, but he spoke seriously, not in modesty. "It took a lot of our allies. Even then, a lot of people died and we were lucky and had to try...far too many times to get there. We're not saying it'll be easy, but you know that already."
Bra'tac nodded. "This is not a task that they"--he gestured to SG-1--"or even all of us in this house can accomplish alone. But together, with Jaffa, humans, Tok'ra, and more at our back, we are strong. Apophis is dead. Think on that."
...x...
Teal'c was grateful that O'Neill wished to speak with Rak'nor and Fro'tak, that Major Carter wished to listen, and that O'Neill's eyebrows could make Daniel Jackson sit when his words could not. Bra'tac had long since begun to call Teal'c his friend and brother, but there were times when Teal'c wished he could speak with Bra'tac as a student again.
"Cronus," Bra'tac repeated when they stepped outside of Fro'tak's house. Teal'c nodded. "There have been times when I have doubted that you would defeat him."
"I am stronger than Cronus was," Teal'c said.
"It was not your arm or your heart that I doubted, but your reason. I am pleased that you did not allow your lust for his death to overpower you."
Despite his words, Bra'tac was watching him, knowing, as always. Teal'c had trained in black night and the fog of battle under this man--the shadows of night did nothing to mask the expression he knew his teacher was wearing. "I nearly failed," he said eventually.
"Ah," was all Bra'tac said.
"The boy who calls me 'Tek'ma'tae' nearly died with me."
"Yet the boy does not think less of you."
Daniel Jackson had always known those things about Teal'c, though, or he would not have followed that day on Cronus's ship. "What does it matter?" Teal'c growled. "Cronus is dead."
"He is dead," Bra'tac agreed. "And what will you do next time, when one of them"--he jabbed a finger toward the house--"dies instead because of your haste?"
"Do not think I have not imagined that," Teal'c said.
"Do not think I care what you have imagined," Bra'tac retorted. "Will next time be different?"
The thought of Cronus leaning over Daniel Jackson was what had given him the strength to hold Apophis long enough, and to catch the symbiote before his friend could be taken. "We are still alive," Teal'c said in answer.
"Even after Apophis."
"I crushed his symbiote in my hand," Teal'c said. It was strange to remember that the symbiote in Teal'c's hand, and not the man Daniel Jackson had stabbed and killed, had been the tyrant who had ruled them.
"I would have done the same," Bra'tac said, not asking how it had happened.
Teal'c clenched his fist, almost able to feel the blood still flowing through his fingers, just as the blood of his father's symbiote--and Shan'auc's--had flowed through the fingers of other Goa'uld. "I do not regret it. I would do again if I had the chance."
"Be glad that you do not have the chance," Bra'tac advised. "I do not know if I could take the wiser path if I had Apophis kneeling before me now. But that will be my last act against the Goa'uld--when my prim'ta becomes too old for me to carry, I will kill it with my own hands."
"That will not be your last, Bra'tac," Teal'c said, frowning. This was the second time his friend had spoken of such things.
"I am old, Teal'c. When this symbiote matures, in less than two years, I will die as a Jaffa warrior, as our ancestors before us died. Perhaps," he added thoughtfully, "I will even seek out enlightenment at Kheb."
"We can find symbiotes for you," Teal'c said. "We have stolen prim'ta from the Goa'uld before."
"And it will nonetheless reject my body," Bra'tac said. "You know this already."
"Our scientists have been attempting to devise a method to eliminate our dependence on the larval Goa'uld," Teal'c said.
Bra'tac's lips turned upward slightly, and only then did Teal'c realize he had said 'our scientists,' and not 'the Tau'ri.' "And if such a method is not completed when my time comes," Bra'tac said, "then I will have lived a full life. I will have seen the fall of Apophis and the beginning of a new era. I will die free, Teal'c."
"My son needs you," Teal'c said. "The rebellion needs you."
"Perhaps," Bra'tac said noncommittally, then pulled Teal'c's hood over his head. "Now. Do not show your face until you have reached the chaapa'ai. You have friends here, Teal'c, but you still also have many enemies. We will speak again soon."
XXXXX
Continued in Part b...