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.
Jack was very close to losing it. The hunting fields were getting more than a little monotonous. They walked, Daniel got sicker. They stopped, Daniel got sicker. Daniel woke up, Daniel got sicker. And, damn it all, Jack knew that if Daniel got very much sicker … he wasn’t going to make it.
Jack felt a cold dread run through his veins at the thought. Daniel couldn’t die, not here, not like this. Hell, Jack had been pretty sure Daniel just couldn't die…It had gotten to be something of a running joke among them, Daniel had a wonderfully consistent habit of returning from the dead. Ra, Nem, the Nox, Klorel’s ship … It just couldn’t happen. Daniel couldn’t die. Especially not because of some alien virus on a planet they shouldn’t be on in the first place….
Jack was pulled from his angry thoughts by Carter’s voice. She was indicating a stone marker beside the trail. Jack’s first instinct was to call for Daniel to read it, but he hesitated. If what Daniel was doing could be called resting then he needed to keep on doing it.
"Teal’c?"
Teal’c seemed to take a long moment to respond, then gently lowered the stretcher and stepped forward. He studied the marker intently. "I believe it is a symbol for ‘Journey’s End’. The completion of a task…"
A quiet voice behind them amended Teal’c’s words gently, "The completion of one task, to be followed by another…"
Jack moved to Daniel’s side quickly, squelching the instinct to tell the younger man to go back to sleep. " So what does it mean? What have we completed?"
Daniel started to shake his head. " I don’t…"
A glowering whine sounded in the clearing ahead of them and a displacement in the air resolved itself into a stone structure almost like a pyramid in size, but more rectangular in shape.
"Oh. And that would be...? " Jack asked.
That other whining sound, the one Jack had come to recognize as a precursor to one of Tel’nat’s holograms, sounded behind them.
"Thor’s prison," the image of Tel’nat announced.
Jack couldn’t restrain the impulse to rush the image, knowing full well that it was futile. "You sorry son of a …" Jack broke off as his hands passed through the place where Tel’nat’s neck should have been.
The image laughed. "Somewhat foolish, O’Neill. But admirable."
Teal’c spoke quietly, the sort of low tone he used that his friends knew belied a deep rage within him, "You have no right to hold us here, Tel’ nat. The terms of the agreement are no longer valid."
Tel’nat snarled slightly, "The terms of that agreement were valid at the time it was made, and the witnessing parties … those that might have enforced any infraction … no longer are a concern. This test will continue as planned, I will hold to my end of the bargain. If you free Thor, I will free you all."
Jack could hear the ‘but’ in that statement long before Tel’nat spoke again.
"However, only Daniel Jackson and O’Neill may enter the structure. It is my wish to see them act together in the manner that destroyed Ra."
Jack started to protest, the Pal’noor had eyes, had probably been watching them from the very beginning…he knew Daniel wasn’t up for this. Daniel’s voice behind Jack startled them all.
"Done." Jack turned to yell at his friend, but stopped again when he saw that Daniel was on his feet, his eyes begging Jack to go along with him on this. Jack sighed deeply, every instinct told him not to let Daniel attempt this….but something in those eyes pleaded for Jack to trust him….again.
"Okay, " Jack fairly growled it, throwing up his hands in frustration.
Tel’nat smiled, studying the two humans intently. "Then let it begin."
Jack reached out for Daniel’s arm as the bright light that had brought them here in the first place overtook them again.
Thor felt a rush of hope as the white light transported O’Neill and Daniel into the structure that had been his prison for days. He knew that things would not be so simple as Tel’nat made them sound. The very things that had kept him in would no doubt be called into play to keep the two humans out.
Thor could see the pair reintegrate in a dark corridor. O’Neill provided a bit of buffering for Daniel as the younger man landed heavily upon him, quite the reverse of their original entry upon this world. O’Neill shifted carefully to maintain support for Daniel, who seemed to be having difficulty recovering the determination that had allowed him to stand and face Tel’nat at the marker. O’Neill looked around assessing their surroundings, while Daniel leaned against him breathing deeply. Thor could see the raw concern in O’Neill’s eyes and understood it. They were in a potentially very hazardous situation, Daniel was barely able to stand and they had no idea why Tel’nat had brought them there.
Thor had been puzzling over Tel’nat’s words at the marker. Who were the ‘witnesses’ to the agreement, and why did Tel’nat feel that he no longer had anything to fear from them? Thor was sure that it had not been the Asgard, even that long ago, relations between their races had been strained at best. That left the Furlings, the Ancients or the Nox. Thor couldn’t see the Nox taking part in any sort of agreement that would use human lives as bargaining chips, it simply was not part of the Nox philosophy to cause harm to any life form…even the Goa’uld. The Furlings were less well-known to Thor, but had something of a reputation for isolating themselves; if that were so, they would not embroil themselves in petty disagreements between two other races. That left the Ancients, the original builders of the Stargate system. Thor thought they were most likely the witnesses Tel’nat referred to. The Ancients had been remarkably quiet for the past few millennia … no one was quite sure where they had gone, or *if* they still survived. That in itself might make Tel’nat bold enough to disregard a clause in the agreement that clearly put him in the wrong.
Watching the two men who might die trying to free him, Thor began to formulate a plan…