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.
Teal’c looked down at Daniel Jackson as he slept on the stretcher he and Connor were carrying. The young man had argued weakly that he neither wanted nor required to be carried. O’Neill had allowed the stubborn scholar to attempt to stand and had been just as unhappy as Daniel Jackson that the attempt had been unsuccessful. Teal’c had never known two such stubborn and willful men who could still, somehow, become such steadfast friends. Even now O’Neill was hovering a few steps away, his eyes on Daniel Jackson as much as on the trail.
Teal’c had been deeply relieved when Daniel Jackson had awakened from his delirium. It had not lessened his guilt, but it had eased the immediacy of his torment. Teal’c knew he would have to spend much time in meditation later to learn to accept this new transgression into himself and discover a means of living with it.
As they finally passed out of the shadows of the forest into a sloping grassland, Teal’c heard all of his Tau’ri companions breath a collective sigh of relief. The forest had left them all wary and depressed, and Teal’c admitted to himself that he was glad they would be leaving that pervasive darkness behind. Major Carter called out that she had found another marker, they were still on the right trail.
Connor felt a weight lift from his shoulders as they moved further away from the forest. He hadn’t realized how down he was until he stepped back into the weird yellow light of the twin moons. The mood of the others had lightened along with their surroundings and Conner thought he could see a smile on the colonel’s worried face as they walked. Connor looked over his shoulder to check on Daniel, still sleeping away on the stretcher he and Teal’c carried.
The improved lighting only served to make Daniel’s pale gauntness more evident. The trials of the past few days had taken an all too visible toll on the already lean scientist. It was as if the illness was stripping away the layers of Daniel’s physical form, leaving only an exhausted, unprotected spirit in its place. Glancing around at SG1, never wandering more than a few paces from their teammate and friend, Connor amended that thought.
Daniel wasn’t unprotected.
Daniel stirred to a feeling of motion, remembering the argument he’d had with Jack before collapsing in a heap and proving the obstinate older man right. Daniel had known he couldn’t make it on foot, but his own band of stubbornness wouldn’t allow him to just give up and be carried like a child.
Daniel opened his eyes carefully. His first sight was Teal’c’s worried face, looking down at him with an expression of utter guilt.
"Teal’c?" Daniel realized that even his voice betrayed the weakness he felt, but let it go in his greater concern for Teal'c.
"Are you well, Daniel Jackson?"
Daniel almost laughed at the irony of Teal’c’s question, but nodded anyway. "You okay?"
Teal’c looked away, trying to conceal whatever it was in his eyes that he didn’t want Daniel to see. "I am."
Daniel looked up at Teal’c doubtfully, making it clear that he wasn’t buying it.
Teal’c sighed deeply. "I regret causing you further pain, Daniel Jackson."
"Wha…?" It took Daniel a moment to register what Teal’c was saying, and what he meant by it. "Teal’c, that thing was killing me. It would have, if you hadn’t stopped it."
Teal’c nodded, accepting the fact if not the reality.
As sleep moved in to claim him again, Daniel knew he’d have to work on making Teal’c understand exactly what he’d been saved from.
// Darkness…deep, empty, unending….
"You aren’t going anywhere, Jackson. That’s an order…"
"You already have the answer, Daniel…."
"You have the answer, Daniel…."
"You need only to remember…"
"Remember…" //
Daniel woke again with a stifled gasp.
"Jack!"