Stargate SG1: What Dreams May Come (4/21)

[brihana25]

All disclaimers, notes, warnings and summary are in the Master post: What Dreams May Come


Chapter Four

It had not always been as it was.

The planet teemed with life of all kinds-insects hummed and buzzed around the brightly colored flowers that grew in the yards around the small dwellings. Children ran and played and laughed in the wild yellow grasses. Mothers tended their homes with care; fathers tended their trades with dedication. Everywhere he looked he saw peace, and happiness, and joy.

Daniel walked through the village unseen, basking in the beauty of a place that he knew no longer existed.

"What is this place?" he asked of no one.

"This is our home, Daniel."

Daniel spun quickly toward the voice and saw a man who was clearly of Egyptian heritage. His head was shaved bare, with the exception of the long black hair pulled into a single braid and banded tightly on the left side-a prince's lock. His white skirt hung to just above his knees, and a single band rose from it and draped across his shoulder. He smiled at Daniel fondly and stepped toward him.

"It is beautiful, is it not?"

Daniel nodded, although confusion was written clearly on his face. "Yes, it is."

The man nodded once and turned to watch a group of children run past.

"Do I know you?" Daniel asked. "How do you know my name?"

"You do not," the man replied. "I do, however, know you. I have met you many times, my friend." The man bowed from the waist. "I am Aynad."

Daniel realized that both he and Aynad were speaking in Ancient Egyptian, though he didn't re-member consciously making an effort to do so. He looked back across the village once more. "So this is what this place once looked like?"

"It is," Aynad replied. "We were happy here, at peace and prosperous."

"How did you get here?" Daniel asked.

Aynad smiled softly. "We were the chosen survivors of a village on your Earth. We were brought to this world by our protectors, a race of men become angels. They wished us to live our lives in happiness, away from the darkness that had fallen over our home. And so they brought us to this place."

"So what happened?" Daniel asked. A small child ran toward him, naked and laughing. The boy stopped a few feet away, looked up at Daniel, and smiled. "Where did you go? Why did you leave?"

The small boy faded into nothingness, and when Daniel lifted his head again, the village was gone. Dark clouds boiled in the yellow skies above him, and thunder rumbled in the distance. The clouds were split by streaks of lightning that tore their way to the ground. One ripped itself from the sky and impacted the spot that the boy had been standing on only seconds before. Daniel fell to his knees and threw his arms up to protect his face from the debris that erupted from the ground.

"The demon god comes."

"What?" Daniel asked. He turned toward the stargate quickly and saw the wormhole forming. A hulking form appeared through the shimmering vortex. As the hulking creature stopped to survey his surroundings, turning its large head left to right slowly, Daniel's breath caught in his throat.

"That's an Unas!" he cried out.

The roaring wind whipped his hair so hard that it stung his face, and he pushed it behind his ears impatiently. The Unas stepped down from the dais slowly, methodically, and began to walk directly toward Daniel. Daniel's eyes widened and he pushed himself to his feet slowly. He ignored the wind, the thunder, and the lightning, and focused all of his attention on the massive creature that approached him.

"My God," he breathed. "That's Belos."

Another bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of him, and Daniel spun away. When he turned back again, Belos was gone.

"Aynad!" he called out. "Aynad, what's happening?"

"These things have already been written. They cannot be changed."

Daniel spun frantically in the maelstrom as he tried to find the man he heard in his mind. "What is this?"

"This is an image of our history, Daniel. These are things you must see."

"I don't understand!" Daniel cried out. "I don't understand what's happening."

"For nine generations, our people existed in peace, prosperity, and happiness. The arrival of the demon god destroyed us all, one by one."

The voice began to float away, toward the temple. Daniel ducked from another bolt of lightning and followed, pushing his hair behind his ears as he went.

"He wished to become as our protectors-one with the universe. He wished to take for himself the power that they did not abuse. He wished to dominate us even as they wished only to pre-serve us."

"Aynad!"

"Listen well, Daniel, and hear me. He took our souls, and made them prisoners in a hell of his own making. He took our bodies and used them for his own purposes. My hands took the lives of my brothers, my sisters, my mother. Those whose souls he could not steal, he destroyed. He killed us all."

"But this happened thousands of years ago," Daniel protested as he walked up the ramp toward the pylons that flanked the entrance to the temple. "What does this have to do with me?"

"He comes again, Daniel. The demon god has awakened."

"Wait!" Daniel pulled back slightly and half-turned toward the opening he had just entered through. "Belos is still alive? He's here?"

"Follow and behold, Daniel. As you have seen my past, see now one vision of yours."

Daniel turned his head slowly and looked through the door into the sanctuary chamber. He saw himself lying on the floor, and Jack lying beside him. Sam and Teal'c stood above them, looking down at them in concern. Daniel recognized the situation immediately as a possible outcome of the events that had transpired with the beam, but for some reason he couldn't explain, it seemed wrong. The shadows were deeper than he remembered them being, giving him the impression that a great deal of time had passed, but it was more than that. Something deep in his mind cried out in warning, and he felt disconnected from himself. The harder he tried to identify the source of his discomfort, the stronger the feelings became.

"This isn't right," Daniel whispered. "What is this?"

"This is what the past once held for you and yours, Daniel. And what the future holds still," Aynad returned quietly. "Only you can change it."

Daniel watched as one of the shadows separated itself from the rest and moved across the room to hover above his body. It hesitated for only a moment before it sank into his chest, and he watched himself rise smoothly from the floor across from him. Daniel saw his own eyes flash, and his blood froze in his veins.

"No!"

None in the room heard Daniel's frantic cry; none saw the telling flash in the blue eyes in front of them. Daniel watched in horror as his hand-a hand that was no longer his own-rose toward Sam. Lightning that rivaled that which accompanied the storm outside flashed from the fingertips, and Sam crumpled to the floor.

"Fear the bliss of sleep, Daniel. Fear the evil that steals your soul even as you dream."

"No! Stop!"

Teal'c raised his staff weapon immediately, but paused in uncertainty. The dark eyes narrowed when Teal'c looked down at Sam's body, and as Daniel stood, frozen in terror, the being that had taken control of his body turned toward the Jaffa. Teal'c was dead before his body hit the floor.

"Fear not what dreams may come; fear the unending darkness that follows after."

"Damn you!" Daniel screamed at himself across the room. "Damn you, stop this!"

"And you will stop me, boy?" his own voice answered him. Daniel shuddered when the creature that had stolen his body turned toward him. He stared back at his own face and saw only the face of a stranger-he looked into his own eyes and saw only eyes that glowed with evil. "What harm can you do to a god?"

"Challenge him. Defy him."

The monster knelt beside the one person in the room who still lived, and Daniel stepped forward.

"Try me."

The creature laughed, and Daniel's eyes narrowed in hatred. "They will die believing that you have killed them." The hand that was no longer Daniel's came to rest against Jack's chest, and Daniel imagined that he could feel the heartbeat beneath his own fingers.

"Leave him alone," he ordered.

The monster only laughed again and shook his head.

Daniel looked down at his hand, and flexed his fingers slowly. He raised his head again when he heard his own voice calling out to him.

"They will die, young one. They will die by your hand."

Daniel shook his head in defiance. "No, they won't."

"You cannot stop me."

Daniel's body shook, but it was no longer fear that caused him to tremble. Anger ran through his veins, and it fueled a power that Daniel had never felt before. The storm raged outside, and Daniel felt the lightning flowing through him, screaming for release. He looked down at his hand again, and saw the sparks that danced and bristled from his fingertips.

"Listen and understand, Daniel. Only you can stop this from happening. Only you can save them."

"You will learn too late," the creature said. "You, and your friends, will die."

Daniel jerked his head back up when he heard the cry of surprise and pain. Jack writhed on the floor beneath the thing's hand. Blood trickled from the corners of his eyes, from his ears, and from his nose.

"Run, Daniel," Aynad whispered in his mind. "You can stop this, if you believe. Go to him. Run."

"No! Jack!"

Daniel moved his legs as quickly as he could, but he came no closer to where Jack lay, dying, gasping in pain and betrayal, naming his murderer with his last breath.

"Daniel ..."

"Jack!"

"Believe, Daniel. Believe in your friends. Make them believe in you. You can stop this. Run!"

"Jack!"

"Jack!"

The terrified cry pulled Jack to his knees at Daniel's side immediately.

"Daniel? Daniel, it's okay. It's over."

"No," Daniel whispered. His voice was filled with a mixture of terror and hatred that Jack couldn't explain. "This can't be real. A dream ..."

Sam reached out and placed her hand on Daniel's arm. "Daniel, can you hear me?"

Daniel squeezed his eyes more tightly shut and winced. "Sam?" he asked weakly.

"Yes, it's me," Sam answered.

"Are you awake, Daniel?" Jack asked.

"I killed them," Daniel whispered. "God, I killed everyone."

"Daniel," Sam said soothingly. "No one's dead."

"It's a dream. Has to be a dream. God, it hurts."

"I know how you feel," Jack said softly. "But it's not a dream. You're awake, so open your eyes. It's gonna hurt, so be ready for it. But open them anyway."

Daniel's eyes fluttered a few times before he opened them all the way. He blinked against the light and after a few seconds, he moved his eyes slowly around the room. He found Teal'c first, and then Sam. The expression on his face remained one of fear until he finally focused on Jack.

"Jack?" he asked weakly. "You okay?"

Jack smiled down at him. "I'm fine, Daniel. What about you?"

Daniel tried to lift his head from the pack it rested against, but gasped in pain and fell back heavily. "Oh, ouch."

"Yeah, the headache's a killer," Jack said. "Give it a few minutes."

"I've given it a week already," Daniel answered softly. "I'm beginning to think that it's never going to go away. You'd think that I'd be used to it by now."

Jack glanced up at Sam and Teal'c in concern, and then back down. "Daniel, what are you talking about?"

Daniel's face scrunched up and he appeared to be concentrating. A moment later, he slowly turned his head to look down at first his left shoulder and then his right leg. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back once more.

"Sam, you shot me!"

Sam knelt down quickly and placed her hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry, Daniel, I didn't ..."

"She didn't do anything that she wasn't supposed to," Jack put in. "And she didn't shoot us. We just got in the way." Jack tapped Daniel's arm with one finger. "Thank you, by the way."

Daniel opened his eyes again and looked up at Jack in confusion. "Thank me? For what?"

Jack pointed at the bandage on his temple. "Seems your shoulder saved me from getting my brain splattered."

Sam gulped.

"Oh," Daniel answered, though it was clear from his distracted expression that he still didn't understand. "Well, you're welcome, I guess. Any time."

"Do you remember what happened, Daniel?" Sam asked.

"Um ... no. Not really. The glyph started to glow, and Jack grabbed my arm ..." Daniel's eyes fell closed again as his voice drifted off.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, it'll come back in a bit. I was kind of confused at first too." Jack looked up at Sam and Teal'c and nodded at them. They stood and walked to the stretcher they'd assembled from their supplies while waiting for Daniel to regain consciousness. "We're going to go ahead and get out of here now, Daniel. You're not up to walking back to the gate, right?"

"Strangest dream," Daniel mumbled.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"I had the strangest dream," Daniel answered. "A voice, a person, speaking Egyptian. He was showing me things, the village, trying to tell me something. He told me to run."

Jack looked up at Sam and Teal'c with raised eyebrows. Sam simply shrugged, and Teal'c shook his head. Jack felt something niggling in his brain, telling him that there was more to Daniel's rambling than there appeared to be. He considered asking Daniel to elaborate, but his practical side won out. His main concern was to get his team packed up and to the stargate-everything else would have to wait.

"Okay, I know you're confused," Jack said. "And I know you're hurting more than a little bit. But I need you to pay attention right now."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked up. "What?"

"We're going back to Earth. To do that, we're going to need to put you on a stretcher, and it's going to hurt." Jack looked down into Daniel's confused eyes. "Hey. You in there?"

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It'll hurt. Got it."

Jack nodded slowly and pushed himself to his feet. Teal'c and Sam put the stretcher down on the floor beside Daniel. Teal'c took Daniel's ankles in his hands, while Jack and Sam each took hold of a shoulder.

"On three," Jack said. "One, two, three!"

They lifted as one and forced themselves to ignore Daniel's cry of pain. It took only seconds for them to settle him on the stretcher. Daniel lay there panting as he tried to regain his composure.

"Ouch," he gasped.

"That was the hard part, Daniel," Sam said. "It'll be easier now."

"Good," Daniel said. "Because that really hurt." He closed his eyes again and let his head roll slightly to the side.

"Grab an end, Teal'c," Jack said. "Let's head home."

Jack bent to grab the handles at Daniel's head, and Teal'c bent toward his feet.

"Wait!" Daniel cried out suddenly. His eyes flew open and he shot up from the stretcher. "Jack!"

"Damn it!" Jack called in surprise. He knelt down quickly and grabbed Daniel's shoulders in his hands. "Daniel, calm down. It's all right. I'm right here."

Daniel eyes darted around the room as he grasped Jack's arm weakly. "Not a dream," he gasped. "It wasn't a dream."

"Daniel, it's all right," Sam soothed from behind him. "But you've got to rest now. You just stopped bleeding ..."

"Jack, it was real. He's here."

"Who's here?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Belos."

"It's not being taken as a host, Jack. That's not what the stories are about. They're about Belos."

"You already told me that, Daniel."

"No, Jack, you don't understand."

Jack sighed heavily. It had been almost thirty minutes since Daniel had first started talking about Belos, and he showed no sign that he'd be stopping any time soon. They were only halfway back to the gate, a trip made no easier by Daniel's constant squirming on the stretcher. He'd already managed to reopen his shoulder wound once, and that had cost them ten minutes while Sam had tried to get the bleeding to stop. She'd succeeded and they'd continued, but when Jack looked down at Daniel he could see fresh blood seeping through the bandage again.

"What I understand, Daniel, is that you have got to lie still. You've already reopened that shoulder wound. And if you don't calm down, we're going to sedate you."

Daniel's eyes widened. "No, you can't do that, Jack."

"I can, and I will, if only just to shut you up for five minutes. You've been talking and squirming since you woke up, and you've got to stop. I can't even understand how you're moving at all. I know how much you hurt."

"I can't go to sleep, Jack. It's not safe. He wants my body, don't you see? It's Belos ..."

"Daniel, you're not making any sense."

"It happens when you go to sleep. Why don't you understand? He takes you away while you're sleeping. That's what Aynad was talking about. That's why he told me to fear sleep. Belos needs my body, and he'll take it." Daniel lurched upright on the stretcher and turned, grabbing at Jack's jacket frantically. "You can't let me go to sleep! Promise me, Jack. Don't let me go to sleep."

"God, Daniel!" Jack and Teal'c fought to keep the stretcher level despite the sudden shift in weight. They failed.

Daniel tumbled to the ground and landed hard on his injured shoulder. He cried out and grabbed it, hissing as tendrils of pain shot up his back and down his arms.

"Daniel!" Sam fell to her knees at his side and pried his hands away from his bandaged wound. "He's bleeding again," she announced as she reached into her pack for the medical kit. "Colonel, this has got to stop."

"Yeah," Jack agreed as he looked down at Daniel. "It's going to." Jack glanced across at Teal'c, and then down at Sam. The expressions on their faces made it clear that they were in complete agreement with him. "Sedate him."

"No!" Daniel cried out. "No, Jack, please!"

"It's all right, Daniel," Sam soothed. "We don't want to hurt you, but you're agitated. You're hurting yourself."

"Don't give him a full dose," Jack put in. "Just enough to keep him quiet until we get to the gate."

"Yes, sir." Sam pulled the pre-filled syringe from the kit and opened it. Daniel watched her, his eyes wide with fear.

"Jack, no," Daniel begged. "Please. I'll hold still, I promise. I swear. Don't give me that. Sam, please!"

Sam looked up at Jack once more for confirmation. When he nodded his head, she pressed the syringe against the inside of Daniel's arm.

Daniel jerked his arm away. "I said no!"

"Calm down, Daniel," Sam said softly. "You'll be fine. It's just a mild sedative."

"Just a little nap, Daniel," Jack added. He knelt down, grabbed Daniel's arm firmly, and held it immobile while Sam pressed the needle against it. Teal'c knelt on the other side and held Daniel's uninjured shoulder against the ground. "Enough for me and Teal'c to get you though the gate in one piece. That's all."

"No!" Daniel cried out as the needle penetrated his skin.

"Relax, Daniel," Sam said.

"It's for your own good," Jack added.

"You don't understand, Jack," Daniel answered. His words were already beginning to run together, and tears rolled down his cheeks. "He'll come for me, take me away ... he'll kill you ... Belos ..."

"Belos is gone, Daniel," Jack returned.

"He's here," Daniel argued in a voice that was little more than a slurred whisper. "He's waiting. He's coming. He'll take ... Believe ... believe in me ... I can't ... I won't ... wake ... not ... no ..."

Daniel's eyes slid closed and his arms went limp at his sides.

Jack sighed. "Thank God. How's his shoulder, Carter?"

Sam nodded and stood, dusting the dirt from her knees as she did so. "The bleeding's stopped again. He's fine."

"Good. Teal'c?"

Jack took Daniel's head and shoulders and Teal'c took his feet, and together they placed him back on the stretcher once more. They lifted him from the ground and resumed their hike to the gate.

"Daniel Jackson seemed unusually distressed at the prospect of being sedated, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, well, I'm unusually distressed at the prospect of facing Fraiser if we let him fall off this thing one more time."

"Will he not be angry upon awakening?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be plenty ticked off at us. But when that happens, he'll be in the infirmary, and he'll be Fraiser's problem, not ours."

Aynad and Daniel stood on the vast yellow plain and watched SG-1 walk toward the stargate. Daniel watched his own hand fall limply from the stretcher that carried his body, and he closed his eyes in defeat.

"He understands," Aynad said simply. "He understands what awaits him if he sleeps. Why do they not listen to him?"

"They can't," Daniel answered softly. He lifted his head and stared across the barren landscape at the shadow that hovered near the horizon. He knew with certainty what was happening to SG-1; he knew that they were being manipulated, being convinced that Daniel's words were nothing more than the delirious ramblings of a man in pain. The blending of their minds had made it more difficult for Belos to separate them, true, but it also had the unfortunate side-effect of making it easier for Belos to influence them all in one fell swoop. "They hear him, but they can't listen."

"For what reason?"

Daniel glared at the shadow. Two points of light where eyes would have been flashed, and then faded away.

"We're not the only ones interfering."

"So what are we to do now?" Aynad asked.

"We think up a Plan C."