Brotherhood (6/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6
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The System Lords
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17 September 1999; Level 25 VIP Corridor, SGC; 1030 hrs
"What's going on?" Sam called, hurrying to the VIP rooms only minutes after leaving the three Goa'uld there in the first place.
Daniel arrived a second after she did. "Oh," he said with a sinking feeling.
Sam attempted to insert herself physically between Teal'c and Cronus. "Stop this!" she said, only to be pushed back by Cronus, and she stumbled back into one of the SFs.
"Onak holka shaka!" Teal'c growled, looking like he was about to attempt some dismemberment in response to a team member's being shoved.
"Treena arik crunaka shol'va!" Cronus retorted. He didn't take his gaze from Teal'c, who waited for Sam to find her footing again before backing off an entire half inch.
"What's going on?" she asked, angry now and pointedly directing her question to Teal'c rather than to the three Goa'uld who had all gathered there.
"Your crude surveillance devices were poorly hidden in our quarters," Nirrti sneered.
"They weren't hidden," Sam said, glaring at the Goa'uld who had orphaned and nearly murdered Cassandra. "They're for security purpos--"
Yu handed her a surveillance camera, crushed on one end.
"Look," she said with barely concealed impatience, "they're here for your own safety. They're in all of the rooms and in the halls, as I'm sure you can see."
Teal'c drew himself up to his full height. "As I was trying to explain."
Nirrti crossed her arms. "I will not be spied upon."
"Nor will I," Yu proclaimed.
"Their removal is against the regulations of this facility," Sam repeated.
"Tana a'kal mal tar," Cronus proclaimed
Yu nodded and added, "Jaya nok shol."
"They said they will not tolerate this disrespect," Daniel translated, knowing that the switch in language was a bad sign--it meant they no longer wanted to deal with the Tau'ri, but preferred instead to trade insults amongst themselves. When Sam's chin came up, her eyes ready to burn through something--possibly someone's skull--he prompted, trying to sound deferential while still conveying urgency, "Major Carter?"
Sam barely glanced away toward him, then nodded. "We have to leave the cameras in the hallways, but I can have the ones in your rooms removed."
Judging by the way Sam was glaring at Cronus from one side while Teal'c did it from the other, it was clear that Cronus had gained another enemy who, for some reason, seemed to hate him almost as fiercely as Teal'c did. Normally, Daniel would have no problem with this, but then, this could hardly be called a normal day.
"Kree ria nok, shol'va," Cronus snarled.
Teal'c began to turn and spat over his shoulder, "Kelmar tokeem."
Daniel suppressed a wince as Cronus's nostrils flared and his face darkened in rage, but each of the System Lords grudgingly returned to their rooms. He'd take that as an optimistic sign that disaster was a tiny bit less imminent.
...x...
"I wonder if Cronus actually ate his children," Daniel said as they finally left the wing with the VIP suites and caught up to Teal'c, who seemed to have been waiting to see if any bloodshed had occurred in his absence.
"You wonder what?" Sam said, looking at him strangely.
"I mean," Daniel clarified, "what exactly counts as children for Goa'uld? Do you think he'd eat his own symbiote offspring or the entire Goa'ulded host? Or maybe there was a...Harsesis"--he barely paused at the word and didn't think of Shifu--"and he took an extreme route to getting rid of a potential threat?"
"I don't want to know where that came from," she said, and went on before he could explain the mythology, "But I swear, I was a second from attacking Cronus with my bare hands."
"Indeed," Teal'c said.
It never ceased to amaze Daniel how Teal'c could have been so good at hiding his intentions while under Apophis and yet was so appallingly open with his hatred when faced with other things. No one held grudges like a Jaffa, and spending two years with someone as open with his opinions as Jack O'Neill--or even the Tau'ri in general--probably didn't help.
Sam turned to Teal'c as they headed to the briefing room. "What did you say to him at the end?"
When Teal'c didn't answer immediately, Daniel supplied, "Kelmar tokeem." It was a reference to cuckoldry and revenge, although Daniel was fairly certain it was just revenge in this case. If there were matters of cuckoldry between Teal'c and Cronus, he really didn't want to know.
"Meaning...?" Sam pressed.
"It's not important," Daniel said, because then she'd ask why Teal'c wanted revenge.
"Aren't you supposed to be my interpreter?" she said.
With a glance at Teal'c, Daniel said pointedly, "It is inappropriate."
Sam seemed to assume a different meaning, though, and said, "What, because I'm a woman? You know you can swear in front of women around here, right?" Daniel made a face--he'd figured that out a long time ago after watching how Tau'ri behaved--but only shrugged, letting her assume it was discomfort retained from an upbringing in a society where gender roles were more clearly split. "Fine, don't tell me, then. I get the idea. How about this: Teal'c stays away from the System Lords until we finish this thing and kick them all out of here."
"Gladly," Teal'c said darkly.
She looked once over her shoulder, saw the area was clear, and said, "I'm pretty sure Cronus was the one who sent the ashrak after Jolinar. I hate just seeing them."
Daniel wrinkled his nose. "Great. Don't get too close to them. Physically."
"You think it'll matter if they know I was a Tok'ra host?"
"You think we should take the chance?"
"Good point," Sam said.
"Are you, uh..." Daniel said. "Are you both going to be okay with them here?"
"I will be fine," Teal'c said.
"As long as they don't stay here," Sam added.
...x...
17 September 1999; Level 17, SGC; 1200 hrs
Daniel looked over Sam's head and caught sight of Jack's frozen expression beyond the System Lords and Thor before backing out of the room. Sam closed the doors behind them.
"Guess we wait now," Sam said.
He nodded, walking with her down the hall. "What do you think will happen?" he asked.
"We just need to have faith in the colonel," she said. Daniel tried to wipe the expression off his face. "Come on, you don't trust him by now?"
"I trust Jack," he said honestly. "It doesn't mean... I'm not sure it's possible to come out of this anything but severely crippled, no matter how good the negotiator is. That's all I'm saying."
"There's optimism for you," she said wryly, but Daniel was pretty sure that in this case, optimism and realism had little or no relation. Everyone was more powerful than they, and they were relying on someone who had only some vague interest in Earth's continued survival.
"Honestly," he confided, "I think the only thing Jack can do at this point is make sure he doesn't accidentally--"
"Gonach!" Cronus's voice came from the meeting room as he threw the doors open and stormed out. Yu and Nirrti were on his heels, each spitting something along the lines of, "Hasshak!" as they stalked past.
"--insult someone," Daniel finished, exchanging a nervous glance with Sam before hurrying back to the meeting room. "That was fast."
Jack looked completely bewildered when they arrived. "Sir, what--" Sam started, and then she noticed Thor still there. "Sorry for interrupting, but what happened?"
"Apparently," Jack said dejectedly, "we said hello, insulted each other, and broke for recess."
...x...
17 September 1999; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1225 hrs
"Dear Goa'uld," Jack said, leaning against Robert's desk. "I'm sorry I didn't play by the rules that no one explained to me. Please tell your friends not to destroy Earth so that we can continue trying to destroy you. Thank you for the consideration. Yours truly, Colonel Jonathan O'Neill."
Daniel gritted his teeth. "Jack."
"Seriously, I will sign that," Jack insisted.
"Jack! This isn't--"
"I know, I know." He stood up straight, sighing. "Just read out the real thing."
"I've never done this before," Daniel warned, because he'd translated enough of other teams' treaties and formal documents before to know the basic idea, but never had to write one from scratch himself, even with Jack looking over his shoulder. "Why, exactly, were diplomats considered nonessential personnel during a negotiation, while security teams weren't?"
"It's not safe here today, and security teams are never nonessential personnel."
"What about when the security team aren't allowed to have weapons and we need to write an apology and all the diplomats are at home?"
Truthfully, they'd known none of the diplomats would have been allowed to take Jack's place or even to help in the negotiations, so it had seemed that they would only be in danger and yet unable to contribute. No one had expected having to do extra bowing and scraping.
"Daniel," Jack said, "just read it to--you know what..." Jack grabbed the back of Daniel's chair and wheeled him out of the way to see the pad of paper he'd been scribbling on. Daniel sighed and waited for his chair to bump into Robert's desk and stop moving. "Eminence?" Jack asked as he started to skim it.
"There's an appropriate, respectful word in Goa'uld. That's just a placeholder in the English."
"So... profound apologies ... no offense was intended in our misinterpretation of the conventions of the summit ... assure you that I will make every effort ... blah blah blah ... blah ... wow, you went all out, didn't you?"
Daniel made a face.
"Blah blah ... again, please accept the sincerest apologies of myself and ... This treaty thing sucks," Jack said succinctly, then pointed at the letter scribbled on the notepad. "And this...makes my skin want to crawl, but it's not bad. Can you Goa'uld-ify it? Wait, one thing--" He crossed out one of the lines, and Daniel dragged his chair back in front of the computer to see Jack making an actual, useful change this time. "That should be fine."
"Okay," Daniel agreed. He switched to the Goa'uld font on the computer, then hesitated. "Do you want to check with someone else, too, to make sure it's...?"
"It's a good piece of groveling," Jack assured him. "Maybe you absorbed some diplomaticky skills from the people in this department. And we need this thing ten minutes ago, so..."
"All right," Daniel said as he began to type a version for Jack to sign.
"I screwed up," Jack said, more seriously. "Fate of the world in my hands, and I screw it up."
Daniel shrugged half-heartedly. "No one could reasonably blame you. Speaking in a way that deliberately excludes one party would be impolite in any society, especially during an event like this. English was the agreed-upon language."
"And was that in the instructions, about speaking out of turn?"
"Well..." Daniel sighed. "As far as I can tell, all parties can participate equally in the negotiations, but since Thor is representing our interests, there's a clause, uh... Earth isn't completely autonomous or even a neutral party but rather an extension of the Asgard, which means you need his permission to speak. We didn't realize before that it wasn't a truly three-way negotiation, but we should have--it was our job to make sure the instructions were clear."
"Bastards," Jack said feelingly.
"Sorry."
"Not you," he said quickly. "If it was too much alien legalese for the best lawyers the Air Force has to offer, I'm not blaming anyone but the aliens."
Daniel felt his lips twitch into a smile despite the situation and glanced up. "Sorry."
"The other aliens," Jack said, rolling his eyes this time.
"Either way, it wasn't fair for them to start off in the wrong language and expect you still to adhere to the rules while they didn't."
Jack kicked a chair, then caught it hastily before it knocked over a pile of papers. "See? They started it. Why the hell didn't Thor yell at them?"
"Maybe they did it on purpose," Daniel suggested. "It's probably a show of power, to demonstrate that we and Thor have very little power over this, not even enough to take them to task for breaking a rule." He skimmed over the document and clicked 'PRINT.' "You know how to spell your name in Goa'uld, right?"
There was a pause in the rustling in the room. "I hate the Goa'uld," Jack announced.
"I'm joking, joking," Daniel said before anyone reached for a dictionary and tried to spell 'Jonathan' phonetically when the Goa'uld language didn't have interdental fricatives.
Jack slumped down into an extra chair with a sigh as the printer choked out the apology letter. "They'd better come up with some really nice proposals. That's all I'm saying."
...x...
17 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 1400 hrs
The new proposal was...well. Daniel saw a number of problems with it, really. Most obviously, though, it was that they had to shut down the SGC and give up the Stargates.
"You're not going to agree, sir, are you?" Sam said.
General Hammond folded his hands on the table with a sigh. "Considering the alternative..."
"I believe that ring out there is the single most important thing on this planet," Secretary Simms said, "and I understand what losing the 'gate would mean. But it is on your word that we trust these Asgard, and peaceful solutions to this crisis must be considered."
Peaceful solution. Giving up their Stargate--both of them, and how had the Goa'uld even found out about the Beta 'gate?--was not a peaceful solution. Signing a treaty that said humans existed for the sole purpose of serving the Goa'uld or being protected by the Asgard, who might not be able to protect them if it came to that, was not a peaceful solution. It was surrender.
Daniel looked across the briefing room table at Teal'c and saw the same conclusion in his friend's face.
"With all due respect, sir, it's not nearly as simple as that," Sam said.
"There are other threats to this world this treaty will not protect you from," Teal'c said.
"From what my buddy Thor tells me, an enemy far worse than the Goa'uld," Jack added.
Simms shook his head, looking regretful but firm. "If any of you can tell me absolutely why we should not accept this proposal, I will forward your opinion to the President, and I assure you it will be given serious weight," which Daniel knew to mean, the decision has been made.
"It's not just about 'gate travel," Sam said. "That treaty says humans exist for the express purpose of being slaves and hosts to the Goa'uld."
"Mr. Secretary," Jack said, pointing at Daniel, "we've seen planets like that, where the Goa'uld decide what technology to allow. No offense, Daniel, but Abydos..."
"Yes, exactly," Daniel spoke up. "People were taken from one of the most advanced civilizations of the time, and now, they're technologically thousands of years behind Earth because of the Goa'uld."
"The point we're trying to make," Sam said, "is that this treaty is, at best, a temporary solution. The concessions that the Goa'uld want would make it easy for them to conquer this planet."
"But we'd be under Asgard protection from the Goa'uld," Simms pointed out.
"Asgard protection can be relatively neglectful," Daniel said, thinking of Cimmeria.
Jack stabbed a finger toward the briefing room table. "At some point, some of the Goa'uld are gonna stop bickering long enough to realize that the Asgard are busy with their own problems. And when they figure that out, our little planet will be fair game, not just for destruction, but for total domination--and that's if someone else doesn't attack us first. General!"
"I see what you're saying, Colonel," the general said, "and I agree with you all completely. However, Secretary Simms is right about one thing: it doesn't look like we have another choice."
Sam dropped a pen onto the table in a small but rare show of annoyance in the presence of the general. "What about off-world personnel? There are five people on SG-11 who still don't even know what's going on, and we have seven currently maintaining the Alpha Site."
"We can request some time," General Hammond said, clearly as unhappy as anyone. "Enough time to bring our people back home before we shut down our operations."
An unbearable thought struck Daniel at the words 'shut down our operations,' and he raised his eyes slowly to meet Teal'c's. The Jaffa was already looking at him and now lifted one eyebrow in question. Daniel hesitated for a second, looking to Jack and Sam, who weren't paying attention to their exchange, then nodded very slightly in return.
"General Hammond," Teal'c said for both of them, "Daniel Jackson and I are on this planet for the sole purpose of serving the SGC. We will do all we can to secure the safety of this planet until the System Lords have left. But if the Tau'ri are to lose the Stargates, we request that we be allowed to return to our families and to continue the battle against the Goa'uld."
The general's lips tightened, and he turned to Daniel. "You're with Teal'c on this, Mr. Jackson?"
"Okay, whoa, hold it," Jack said before they could answer, standing and glaring at Teal'c and Daniel. "No one has to leave anywhere yet. General, let me talk to Thor and see if he's got any ideas."
"Do it," the general said immediately.
"I'll speak with the President," Simms said. "He'll need some time to consult with his advisors. I will make sure he is aware of your concerns, but it does appear we have no choice."
"You're all dismissed for now," the general said. "Be here as soon as we have word. And," he added with a note of reluctance, looking from Teal'c to Daniel, "they might not let anyone leave, but if they do...prepare whatever you feel necessary. We don't know what kind of timeline we'll be working with."
Jack glared at the two of them a minute longer, pointing at one and then the other. "Wait," he ordered, and had barely finished saying, "Beam me up, Thor!" into his Asgard communications device before he disappeared from the briefing room. Daniel snuck a glance at the others and retreated to the office to leave a note for Robert, just in case.
...x...
17 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 1500 hrs
Sam was swiveling slightly in her chair when Daniel returned, which told him how anxious she was. Jack was at least as unhappy as she, so he was aggressively folding a page of a spare copy of the treaty. Secretary Simms looked like he was trying to ignore the fact that a key, leading member of the SGC was turning an important treaty into paper airplanes. "Hi," Daniel said as he took his seat, feeling awkward.
"What," Jack said tensely, then looked up from folding and saw him. "Oh. It's you."
Annoyed, Daniel returned, "I'm fine, Jack. How are you?"
"We're just all on edge, Daniel," Sam said, shooting a look at both of them.
Daniel felt like he'd been living on some edge or other for the last few years, and it was getting tiring trying to balance there without falling off, so he sighed and dropped the argument he almost wanted to take up just for the sake of argument. "Did Thor...?"
"Nope," Jack said, then held his airplane up to examine it. "Damn," he muttered, and tried to straighten one of the wings. "Teal'c?"
"He went to his quarters. General Hammond went to talk to him," Daniel said. "I assume he's..." Actually, he had no idea what Teal'c might be doing now while waiting to hear the fate of the world. He shrugged. "I don't know. I thought he would be here--I'm sure he'll come soon."
The phone rang, and Secretary Simms excused himself to answer it.
"That'll be the President," Jack said morosely. "Decision time."
Sam looked at Daniel. "Were you just...packing or something? To leave?"
Daniel shook his head. "No one's really expecting the Goa'uld to let us leave, and if they do, we'll have higher priorities than dictionaries." Most of what he really needed could be carried on his person. There were a few things he would want to take, tucked into his backpack in his room, but he didn't want to think about that while sitting in a room with these people.
Not looking up, Jack asked, "Would it be so bad? For you, anyway."
"You mean, if we can't leave?" Daniel stared at him. "I was practically born and raised for this, for the Stargate. I don't know what else there is, at least not on Earth."
Jack looked directly back at him. "You could be getting away from the front lines instead of running toward them all the time. Brain like yours, you've never thought of doing something else? Getting out of the war?"
"No, I haven't...really... What would I do?" Daniel said. "Go to a Tau'ri school and take classes on reconstructing historical languages as if I haven't been doing that in practice for years? You think I can just walk away from this--"
"You think we can?" Jack retorted.
"Look..." Daniel started.
Abruptly, Jack leaned forward, intent. "You're going to get yourself killed if you leave and go...exploring or looking for Goa'uld or whatever."
"I didn't join a military organization because I was afraid of being hurt," Daniel returned.
"No, you joined a military organization because it rescued you from the psychopaths you want to keep fighting."
"But I stayed, after everything! If Thor had waited another few hours to talk to you, I would have been off-world at the time with you and your team--"
"With me and my team!" Jack snapped. "Us, watching your back!"
Daniel pulled back, surprised at the vehemence and unsure how to answer it. Sam had fallen silent, too. "That's not a sentence," he said lamely.
Jack crumpled the paper airplane in his hands and flicked it to the other end of the table.
"Jack, the Goa'uld aren't likely to let us activate the Stargate again just to let me and Teal'c leave on...on compassionate grounds. I know that, okay? I mean--they're unlikely to do any favors for Teal'c, of all people, when they know he'd just go and keep recruiting rebel Jaffa, and if any of them somehow recognizes me, they'd probably execute me or something just for who my family is. There's no point in thinking about leaving until we know for sure."
"Yeah," Jack said. Daniel wasn't sure which part was causing his unhappy expression, so he tried not to think too hard about it.
General Hammond walked into the briefing room. "Colonel, have you seen Teal'c?"
"I...thought you were talking to him, sir," Jack said, shooting a questioning glance toward Daniel.
"I wanted to," the general said, "but I haven't been able to find him."
"Security to Level 25," a voice called over the PA. "Medical team to Level 25. Emergency!"
"That's where the VIP rooms are," the general said.
"And Teal'c's quarters," Sam added, and then they were all running to the elevator.
XXXXX
17 September 1999; Infirmary, SGC; 1600 hrs
"The SFs assigned the guard the hallway sounded the alarm," Sam said, pushing in the security videotape as Jack, Daniel, the general, and Janet gathered around her at the hospital bed where Teal'c lay. "They say Teal'c passed through and told them he was going to see Cronus. Nirrti and Yu are demanding an explanation for the sudden commotion, and based on the videotape evidence, it looks like Teal'c is involved. Not," she added, "that I'd believe he's responsible for this."
Daniel shook his head adamantly from his seat at Teal'c's bedside. "Teal'c would never do anything to put Earth in more danger than it's already in, not even for personal revenge."
Four pairs of eyes locked on him from above. "Personal revenge?" Jack said dangerously.
"Uh," Daniel said, shrinking as they stared down at him. "You, uh...didn't know?"
"Know what?" the general demanded.
Glancing at Sam, and then at Jack, he said, "Cronus...may have...killed Teal'c's father."
"May have killed," Jack repeated.
"Definitely killed," Daniel amended, wincing when Jack threw his hands up.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud, why doesn't he tell us these things? Why didn't you say something earlier?" he added, scowling at Daniel.
"It was a...private...thing...Jack, Teal'c's not at fault for this."
Sam nodded. "I don't think he would be, either, sir."
"Well, neither do I," Jack snapped, "but the case against him just got a lot more interesting, don't you think?"
"I can't do anything for Cronus, and he will die without medical intervention," Janet said, a contemplative look on her face. "But we do have a sarcophagus."
"Bring him to the sarcophagus room, then," the general ordered her. "What about Teal'c?"
"Our policy is not to use it unless it's absolutely necessary," Sam said. "Besides, we've never seen the sarcophagus used on a Jaffa."
"Except Colonel Maybourne after Hathor's attack," Daniel said. "And it took a few tries, but it made him not a Jaffa."
"He didn't have a symbiote," Jack said, which, admittedly, could have been the difference.
"Just Cronus, then," Janet decided for them. "Teal'c will heal on his own." She called a few of her nurses to start preparing the Goa'uld for transport.
"I'll stay with Teal'c," Daniel said, pulling his chair a little closer to the bed.
The general nodded. "Major Carter, stall the other System Lords. Tell them as little as you can--if one of them is at fault, he or she may let something slip. Mr. Jackson, find out what you can from Teal'c when he wakes. Colonel O'Neill, let Thor know what's going on. I'll tell Secretary Simms and the President. Airmen," he added to the SFs outside, pointing to Janet, "keep an eye on Cronus when he wakes up. And someone on this base already has a weapon--you have my permission to arm yourselves appropriately."
Jack sighed, reaching into his pocket to pull out Thor's device again. "Boy, did this get out of hand," he said, and disappeared.
Sam rubbed a hand over Teal'c's arm, either to comfort him or to reassure herself he was still there, then turned and left to find the System Lords.
"He'll wake up?" Daniel said to make sure when Janet lingered an extra moment, checking the bandage that covered part of Teal'c's scalp and wiping away a stray streak of blood on his cheek.
"Anytime, now," Janet confirmed, then hurried away to heal Cronus. Daniel sat back to watch the slow rise and fall of Teal'c's chest.
...x...
Teal'c only woke long enough to give an outline of his story. As he fell back into a healing kelno'reem, Daniel rose from his seat to wait for Cronus and the others to return. Jack and the general came in first, followed closely by Sam. "Cronus isn't back yet?" the general said.
"No, sir," Daniel answered, "but Teal'c was awake for a few minutes. He said Cronus asked to see him but denied sending for him once he'd arrived. They were then attacked by something invisible, but he didn't sense a Reetou. We don't have any technology that can do that, so one of the other Goa'uld must have something that does it."
"Neither one is admitting to anything," Sam said. "And if it was invisible, I doubt Cronus would have seen who did it any more than Teal'c did."
"Bluff," Jack suggested. "Pick one, accuse him or her, and see if it'll surprise something out."
"Uh," Daniel said dubiously. "That's a joke, right?"
Jack shrugged. "You have a better idea? Anyone?" Daniel glanced at the general, who didn't seem to have any other suggestions, and had to shake his head.
"Thor said Yu is more likely to be in favor of the treaty," Sam said. "He doesn't care about what happens in this part of the galaxy. But Nirrti has destroyed a whole planet in the past to get to Earth."
"Goddess of deception," Daniel offered. "We've seen her use experimental technology. Maybe she's experimented with...uh..."
"Reetou-mimicking devices," Sam suggested. "The Goa'uld have clashed with Reetou before."
"Yeah," Jack agreed, a calculating look in his eyes. "We tell her flat out that we know she's hidden her technology from the other System Lords. See how they both react."
"We can say the Tok'ra corroborate our sources, too," Sam added. "It's not like they can check."
"Nice touch, Major. General?" Jack said.
General Hammond looked like this might possibly be the most foolish plan anyone had ever presented to him. Considering the kinds of things that happened around here, that was a little frightening.
Before he could answer, though, Janet led Cronus--fully healed and very angry--back into the infirmary with the armed security forces all aiming their usual weapons at him. The general quickly caught Jack's eye and nodded in agreement.
Cronus passed an eye over the weapons. "You have broken the conditions of the summit."
"Hey, we saved your snaky little butt because we want this treaty to happen," Jack said, stepping forward. "Now, it's obvious to everybody that one of your friends did this to you, so your party broke the conditions first. What if we can prove which one did it? What's that worth to you?"
"What do you ask in return?" Cronus asked.
Jack nodded once. "We'll let you know. Carter, get the TERs. Daniel, whatever happens, stay in here with Dr. Fraiser. Keep Cronus company." Cronus scowled at the thought that he was being ordered around, but he was relatively helpless now, so he subsided.
"Jack?" Daniel said warily, because the words 'whatever happens' rarely preceded anything healthy.
"Just stay here," he repeated. "We have a plan. Cronus, why don't you talk over the treaty in here. We'll be back when we've caught your attacker." Jack looked to the general, who nodded his approval, then raised his eyebrows at Daniel and nodded toward Cronus.
As Jack and Sam left to apprehend the criminal, the general told Cronus, "We want your word that the System Lords will uphold their end of the Protected Planets Treaty and withdraw their forces from around Earth. And we will keep the Stargates."
Cronus laughed. "If we give that to you, then we have no reason to sign the treaty."
"Yes, you do," Daniel spoke up. "Addenda 9792 through 10815 are all new concessions from the Asgard. For one thing, you'll gain safe passage through several parts of Asgard territory."
Turning to him now, Cronus said, "If you continue to use your Stargate, then we strike Addendum 5197 from the treaty."
"We don't expect amnesty from the System Lords on other planets," Daniel agreed, looking to the general and receiving a nod. It wasn't as if they'd ever expected that, anyway. With a sudden burst of daring, he added, "And we strike Section 326. The System Lords will not interfere with this planet's development." Hah, so typing the thing and reading over it with Jack and then with the lawyers had proven useful after all.
The general was giving him a warning look, but Daniel knew infighting in front of the enemy was never encouraged, unless a subordinate messed up enough to be publicly chastised for the purposes of appearances, so the general stayed silent as Cronus lifted his chin, emphasizing his height. "Unacceptable. Section 326 Subsection 42 is a key component of the treaty."
Backtracking a little, Daniel said, "All right, then...then we will uphold the prohibition against artificial Asgard advancement that could pose a threat to the Goa'uld."
"But restriction of any other advancement of our own will not be tolerated," the general said, picking up his thought.
With a sneer, Cronus said, "Your own advancement--such as it is."
"Then you have nothing to fear," the general argued. "We saved your life, Cronus. We're bringing your attacker to justice."
"Someone who has been keeping secrets and who tried to kill the most powerful of the System Lords," Daniel added, glad there was a hospital bed behind him so he couldn't take a step back even though his feet wanted to. "We may even have prevented an attempted coup in your ranks."
"Which of them would you claim to be doing such a thing?" Cronus said dangerously.
General Hammond shook his head. "Not until you agree to our terms."
Cronus scowled. "We accept the addition of Earth as an Asgard Protected Planet. We remove 5197 and the proposed 10816 and withdraw our forces from Earth's orbit."
"Remove Section 326 as well, with the exception of the terms in Subsection 42," Daniel added, "and we'll expose the traitor."
"Are we agreed?" the general said.
Finally, Cronus inclined his head. "We are agreed."
They nodded solemnly in return. Daniel waited for Cronus to turn his back in contempt to try to stare down the SFs before letting himself sag against the nearest bed in relief. The general turned to him with an approving smile, and he found himself standing straighter again by the time Cronus turned back.
XXXXX
17 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 2000 hrs
When it was over and Nirrti had been dragged through the Stargate by Yu and Cronus, Daniel sat at the briefing room table again and waited for Secretary Simms to finish telling the President that the world was not, in fact, about to be obliterated.
"I'm still trying to figure this out," Sam said. "So the Asgard will protect us in the future?"
"Theoretically," Jack said.
"And the System Lords spend so much time at war with each other that they rarely coordinate a large-scale attack like this, much less decide to test the Asgard's protection."
"So," Daniel said, still a little confused, "nothing really changes for us? How did that happen?"
"I don't know, but I'll take it," Jack said.
"However," the general said, "it means we need to step more carefully. The threat of the Asgard might hold the System Lords back for now, but that could end at any time. Moreover, if we continue to fight them, they'll start to look to us as a threat that has to be stopped again."
"We're not going to just stop fighting them, sir," Jack said, half question and half statement.
"I don't see that we can," the general confirmed. "But we have to be more careful."
Jack leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied. "So, business as usual, then?"
"Wait, the Beta Stargate," Daniel said, because he couldn't quite believe this was happening without complications. "How did they even know we had two Stargates?"
With a sigh, Jack said, "It's always something with you, isn't it?" Daniel bristled, but the words held no heat, and Jack seemed to be considering it seriously. "There's no reason anyone would have mentioned it where a Goa'uld could overhear?"
"I've been thinking about that, too, sir," Sam said, "and I haven't been able to come up with any reason they should have known. On the other hand...maybe this is unrelated, but Seth did find out somehow about the sarcophagus at Area 51."
Daniel grimaced. Jack groaned aloud. "You think there's a spy there, Carter?"
General Hammond had laced his fingers together on the table and was watching them. "No, sir," Sam said, "I'm not saying that...exactly. But there have been security breaches in the past originating from that facility, and we have to put a stop to it."
"But this is much, much bigger," Daniel pointed out. "Unauthorized explorations and experiments or...or scavenging for technology, that's a question of methodology and moral thresholds. Spying for the Goa'uld is switching allegiance."
"Maybe they weren't spying," she said, "or not intentionally. General, I'd like to file a request for all research they've done on the damaged Goa'uld long-range communications device we found on Abydos last year, as well as any other communications technology. If something there was active without their knowing, Teal'c says they're not good for discretion. It's possible some intelligence got leaked out that way."
"Go ahead, Major," the general said. "I'm not going to accuse their personnel of such high treason without evidence, but if there's an accidental source of intelligence that's getting to the Goa'uld, I want it shut down. In the meantime, I need to contact SG-11 and the Alpha Site to let them know what happened."
"So," Jack said again, hopefully, "business as usual?"
"For now, we will resume normal operations, with some added caution both in choosing missions and in taking action. I want an assessment from each of you of the implications of this summit." The general paused, looking around at all three of them, then said, "Good work. All of you."
Daniel was still mulling over the day when Jack hooked a foot around the leg of his chair and pulled it out, suddenly enough to make Daniel yelp and catch at the table for balance.
"You gonna sit there and stare all night?" Jack said.
Daniel shrugged. "Just...relieved. I mean, it's Earth. You know?"
Jack quirked an eyebrow. "I know. Why do you keep saying that?"
"Never mind. It's...nothing." Standing, Daniel said, "I'll go check on Teal'c."
"Yeah. I'll change out of this"--Jack plucked at the sleeve of his uniform--"and meet you there."
"Same here," Sam said.
Teal'c was still in kelno'reem when Daniel arrived and Janet waved him toward the bed. It used to scare him when that happened--kelno'reem on a hospital bed looked a lot like unconsciousness or coma--but he'd learned later that a Jaffa and his symbiote both had to be in some safe minimum of health in order to reach kelno'reem to begin with.
Now, Daniel simply propped his feet on the lower metallic rungs of the bed, his elbows on his legs and his chin in his hands, and sat guard. There was little to fear on base with the Goa'uld gone, and nothing from which Daniel could protect him, but he'd learned over the past two years that holding vigil with an injured friend was as much for the watcher as it was for the watched.
Jack walked in, dressed now in khakis and a leather jacket that meant he was done with work for the day. "He gonna live, Doc?" Jack said, but easily, casually, knowing the answer was 'yes.'
"Oh, he'll be walking out of here long before I'd like, Colonel," Janet assured him, then glanced down once more at Teal'c and backed away. "I'll be in my office if anyone needs me."
Sam entered then in BDUs and boots, walking again with the grace and ease of movement Daniel associated with her in daily life, rather than the rigid composure she donned with her dress blues and heels.
"How long's he been kelno'reem-ing?" Jack asked more quietly, nodding toward Teal'c as he opened a drawer in the bedside nightstand, as if looking for something to do.
"About three hours," Daniel answered. "Since he woke up the first time, anyway."
Sam leaned over Teal'c and tested his temperature, touched fingers to his carotid artery, counted his breaths, inspected his bandage, checked the chart by his bed. This routine of hers was familiar, too--they all liked to have their hands busy. "He'll probably be awake in a couple hours, then," she said, "judging by the severity of his wounds."
Daniel wasn't sure whether to be proud that he could have guessed that, too--so could Jack, the way he was nodding--or disturbed that even Teal'c, the most sturdy person on this base, had been injured enough times that they all knew the basics of Jaffa healing.
"Anyway, I need to look into something," Sam said, pointing out the door with a thumb. "The NID research. Would you mind...?"
"I'll find you when Teal'c wakes up," Daniel told her.
She smiled at him, looked over Teal'c one more time, then left.
Daniel took in Jack's civilian clothes and asked quietly, "Are you going home?"
"Yeah, I should make sure the house is okay after the last few days, but I'll be back early," Jack said. "The general needs to make sure everything's really back to normal, but we should be on schedule for our mission in a few days."
"I'm still on your team, then?" he asked, because he wasn't sure if it had ever been finalized.
"You still haven't done your psych evaluation," Jack said.
"Do I have to? I already took all those tests."
"Look, no one likes it, but you've got to do it," Jack said. "You have an appointment with Mackenzie on Monday. Pass that, survive the mission, and then finish marksmanship the week after that...and I'll give you your patch."
Daniel grimaced, more worried about the psychiatrist than the range master. "How am I supposed to prove to Dr. Mackenzie that I'm not crazy?"
"Well...you're not crazy, so as long as you don't do anything stupid, you should be okay."
"Huh. I don't think you've ever called me 'not crazy' before," Daniel said thoughtfully.
Jack snorted. "I won't let it happen again. Are you staying here tonight?"
"I told Sam I'd tell her when Teal'c woke up," Daniel reminded him. "And SG-11's next scheduled report was for early tomorrow morning. I know there's no reason to think anything happened to Robert or any of them, but..."
"No, I get it," Jack said. "That's fine. But it's been a hell of a day--hell of a few days--so I'm ordering you to go get some rest as soon as Teal'c wakes up. He'll just tell you to go to sleep, anyway." He smirked. "I could get used to being allowed to give you orders."
Daniel rolled his eyes, relaxing at the sight of the tiny smile curving Jack's lips. "Good night."
...x...
In the end, he must have fallen asleep, because he woke with his head pillowed on the mattress and Teal'c's eyes on his face.
"Teal'c!" he said, sitting up quickly and shaking sleep from his brain. "How do you feel?"
"I am well, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, and as if to prove it, he pushed himself up and swung his legs off the side of the bed to sit sideways.
Then Daniel realized Teal'c probably didn't even know about the System Lords. "Oh, uh, the treaty, you must be wondering--"
"Major Carter informed me of what occurred. Dr. Fraiser has already cleared me for light duty."
Daniel blinked at him, then looked down at his watch to find that over five hours had passed since he'd first sat down here. "You were waiting for me to get up and let you leave, weren't you," he said, embarrassed and standing quickly. "Why didn't you just wake me?"
"It was no trouble," Teal'c assured him. "However, your own bed may be more comfortable."
He rubbed his eyes and agreed. He didn't move to leave, though, and Teal'c tilted his head, watching him fidget until he boosted himself up to sit on the next bed. "If the Tau'ri had been forced to surrender the Stargates," Daniel said, "and we--the two of us--had had a chance to leave, where would you have gone?"
"Where would you have gone?" Teal'c returned.
"The Alpha Site first, I suppose, just to gather supplies and assess our situation. And then to Abydos."
"Then I would have done the same."
"Really?"
Teal'c nodded once.
"The cartouches are there," Daniel said, heartened by the support. "Between the two of us, we know a lot of the addresses that have been visited, and we could have continued searching the unexplored planets. Seek out some of our allies, even one of the Jaffa rebel outposts..."
"You could remain safely on Abydos," Teal'c pointed out.
"Could I?" Daniel asked. It wasn't rhetorical.
"Do you doubt that it is safe, or that you could remain there?"
Daniel shrugged, trying to look nonchalant even though it wasn't really possible to hide anything with Teal'c. "I know it's not safe anywhere, exactly. Somehow, it's hard to imagine being there and not doing anything. And it's hard to imagine Earth being cut off. I mean, it's Earth."
"Indeed," Teal'c said.
"Exactly!" Daniel said, gesturing with a hand. "See? You understand. The first planet. The..." He waved a hand. "The planet that saved us. Saved me, anyway, and then you saved them, but--"
"I understand your meaning," Teal'c told him.
"If Earth can't do it, when it's the only planet we know of that's successfully started to stand up to the Goa'uld, then who else has a chance?" Daniel dropped his hands into his lap. "Maybe we simply hold an Earth-centric viewpoint, since we're stationed here."
"It is not only our opinion," Teal'c corrected. "When Apophis attempted to destroy this planet, Master Bra'tac was willing to give his life, and the lives of his men, to save Earth. We are not the only ones who believe the Tau'ri to be the best hope against the Goa'uld."
Daniel nodded but didn't answer.
"It was difficult," Teal'c added carefully, "to see this planet's weakness, was it not?"
"It's not that," Daniel said, but it was. To be poised on the brink of destruction and to be shown more starkly than ever before that this world wasn't invulnerable... He snorted, suddenly aware of--and disgusted by--the fate they had just barely escaped. "They were discussing our lives the way people discuss the price of equipment at department meetings. They were haggling for us, Teal'c."
"And yet," Teal'c said, "the Tau'ri triumphed again."
"By a stroke of dumb luck," Daniel said.
"By the ability to use that luck," Teal'c countered sternly. "Think, Daniel Jackson. Many things were required to achieve victory. The System Lords believed humans to be weak; that, as always, is their failing. It is rare for the Tau'ri to begin with the advantage against the Goa'uld, and yet, they have succeeded many times. Is that not why we believe they can win?"
"I guess so," Daniel conceded. "Teal'c...do you ever doubt that we'll win? Eventually?"
Teal'c blinked. "I do not," he said, but although he didn't turn his gaze away, he had other ways of trying to hide a lie. Daniel wasn't sure the words were completely false, but he wasn't sure they were completely true, either. 'Eventually,' he suspected, was the key, which was...realistic, but also rather demoralizing.
Sometimes Daniel wondered if he really was as naïve as some Tau'ri believed. Was it foolish to believe the SGC could successfully wage a war against an enemy that they couldn't dream of defeating face-to-face on even footing? The Abydons had survived--thrived--despite having their entire belief system shaken by the Goa'uld, but was that good enough as proof?
The SGC will win, Daniel reminded himself, and if this summit had allowed doubts to whisper in, he could overcome those, too. He hopped off the bed. "We were lucky," he repeated.
"Extremely," Teal'c agreed.
"That's it. That's all. We were extremely lucky. And, when you think about, that happens a lot. We came this close"--he held up two fingers half an inch apart--
"The Stargates are still ours," Teal'c interrupted. "Earth is under the protection of the Asgard. The System Lords will suspect one another even more following Nirrti's betrayal. The war against the Goa'uld will continue, and the search for your family will continue."
Daniel leaned back, considering, then said, "Okay. But--"
"It is late, and we have won the day," Teal'c said, sliding carefully from his perch on the bed. "I will resume kelno'reem in my quarters. You also should sleep."
"Jack said you'd say that," Daniel said, starting out of the infirmary but walking just close enough to make sure Teal'c really was okay and not just pretending to have permission to leave the infirmary. It had happened before. "I'm not really sleepy, anymore, though."
"Then perhaps you would like to join me."
It wouldn't be the first time he'd curled up in Teal'c's bed while Teal'c meditated nearby in a circle of candles. After a lifetime of sleeping in the same room as his family, it was nice not to be alone in his room once in a while. "Okay," he agreed. "I'd like that."
From the next chapter (" The Linvris"):
Pulling off his glasses, Mackenzie said, "Whatever you feel or think at your desk can influence what you do in the field. More importantly, I'm a doctor, and I'm not just here to sign a form saying that you're approved for SG-1."