DISCLAIMER: All characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
// The darkness surrounded him, probing, invading his mind … tightening around his body as if trying to squeeze his very soul out to join its shadow realm. Daniel panicked as he realized that was ‘exactly’ what it was trying to do. It would absorb him into itself, leaving nothing behind … dragging him into the blackness that had no end, and no escape…. //
Daniel called out from the depths of his nightmare, "Jack? Teal’c?" He felt a coolness on his forehead and turned to it. He was so hot.
"We’re here, Danny. It’s okay." Jack’s voice. Jack said it was okay. It must be then, Jack never lied to him.
So why did he feel like he was fading away like that shadow creature?
Something touched his lips and he tried to obey the voice that told him to swallow, but it seemed like his throat was constricting and he couldn’t manage more than a sip. Strong arms enfolded him gently, keeping him still, holding the pain at bay. Daniel tried to open his eyes like the voices were pleading for him to, but his eyes would not obey.
A woman’s voice was saying something about fever. She … Sha’uri? …was worried that it was too high.
The strong, deep voice vibrated against his back, demanding that he be okay, wouldn’t let him go back to sleep. An ‘order’?
Daniel struggled against the arms, it felt safe here, but he wanted to sleep. To stop fighting. He was so tired of fighting…
Why couldn’t he just let go?
Connor had been scared. As scared as he’d ever been in his life. Being lost in that spirit-limbo had been downright benign compared to the pure evil they’d all sensed in that shadow thing. Just watching it wrap itself around Daniel had been enough to supply Connor with a month’s worth of nightmares, he couldn’t imagine how Daniel must have felt while trapped inside it.
Daniel was delirious now. His fever had spiked and nothing they’d done would bring it down. Daniel called out for his dead wife, the colonel, his mother and father … also dead, Connor discovered … and even for Teal’c. Teal’c had looked up in shock as the hoarse, strained voice called for help to escape the nightmare place the shadow creature, along with the damnable fever, had taken him to.
Major Carter had explained a little about Teal’c’s role in the death of Daniel’s wife. It helped Connor better understand SG1 as a whole, and the almost obsessive protectiveness he had observed in Teal’c. The big Jaffa, so seemingly untouched and untouchable on the surface, was being eaten from the inside out by guilt.
Connor wished there was something he could do to help, but, as close as he felt to these people, Connor was all too aware that he was a guest at this particular party. This was something that SG1 would have to get through together. As a team.
Thor watched the humans as they struggled to keep Daniel alive. They expressed concern that the young man was growing too weak to fight much longer. Watching the gaunt face as it fought through another round of delirium-induced dreams, Thor was inclined to agree. He knew enough about human physiology to recognize that Daniel could not survive much more.
The pop-whine that announced Tel’nat’s arrival could not distract Thor from the drama unfolding before him. Tel’nat walked slowly to the hologram.
"Why do they do that?" Tel’nat seemed genuinely curious.
"It is their nature to care for one another."
Tel’nat looked confused, "More ‘human’ emotion? I still believe it is a weakness."
Thor was quiet a long moment, the very fact that Tel’nat was so intrigued by the humans could be a potential advantage. "Perhaps they could teach us something of compassion."
Tel’nat laughed. "Compassion? Such things do not win battles."
Watching Jack O’Neill holding tightly to his friend as he arched and twisted away from enemies only he could see, Thor felt an unfamiliar anger.
"Perhaps there is more than battles to be won. Perhaps what you see as weaknesses are the very things that will help the humans defeat the Goa’uld, despite their technological deficiencies." Thor raised himself slowly, pointing to the image of the two human friends. "Observe O’Neill and Daniel Jackson. They do not admit defeat. They do not submit. Their will is strong."
"True, " Tel’nat agreed. "None of my methods could extract information from Jackson. I will accede that point, they are stubborn. But is that enough? The dark one killed Daniel Jackson’s wife, why does he not exact retribution from him? Even the Jaffa believes he deserves it."
Thor was unsure of how to respond in a way that Tel’nat could understand. The concepts the humans took for granted were difficult for Thor himself to comprehend. How much more difficult would it be for the Pal’noor who had been warriors for centuries untold?
"Humans have many qualities we would both find strange. Among those is ‘forgiveness’…a dismissing of the wrongs done to them. Many of them believe that vengeance is wrong, that to forgive brings them to a state of being much more desirable."
Tel’nat looked at the image of Daniel Jackson for a long moment. "I wonder if he would be able to forgive even me?"
Thor could not help but be shocked by the Pal’noor’s tone. It almost sounded as if …
Tel’nat shook himself and turned away from the hologram. "It is of no consequence. Should Daniel Jackson survive the effects of the Del’nae, he will not likely live to reach this place."
Tel’nat disappeared abruptly, leaving Thor to wonder exactly how much the humans were beginning to affect the Pal’noor leader. Looking back at Daniel’s face, so deathly still at the moment, Thor hoped that Tel’nat was wrong.