Disclaimer: Own nothing, this is solely for enjoyment.

Rating: PG

Summary: After gating to a world where it always seems to be dark, SG-1 is surprised to find that once they are through the gate that it will not start up again to dial back home. As they wait for Carter to try to find a way to fix the gate, strange things begin to happen including disembodied voices, and misty apparitions appearing to one or two team members at a time. This world is holding some dark secrets that even SG-1 is afraid to encounter but, they must face their fears so the gate will allow them to return home to the SGC.

Extra note: this fic includes Jonas, not Daniel but, who's to say that the esteemed Dr. Jackson will not visit his friends while they are in turmoil?

A/N: Thanks for the heads up on awkward sentencing. I thought I'd fixed all of those when I reposted, guess I missed a few. Thanks again, and if you see any others while going through, feel free to let me know and I'd be happy to repair them! I tried to fix up the beginning, I agree that it felt forced and quick. Therefore, I attempted to work magic on it. Hope my attempts worked!

Chapter 1: A Frightening Beginning.

The gate exploded in a river of blue that shimmered in the darkness.The team of SG-1 stepped through and stopped almost instantly. It was dark, threateningly dark, and cold. A wild wind danced through the air, hitting the team with enough force to snatch their breath away and cause them to gasp. As the gate shut down, the wind stopped, leaving only the haunting silence of their new 'playground' and the invading darkness. Not a grand place to be if claustrophobia was one of your weaknesses.

SG-1 cast fleeting glances around the area, and could see nothing through the haze of black that wrapped itself around them. To be truthful, the place felt downright creepy, it felt as though something was watching them from all angles, waiting to attack. This wasn't a feeling that they had grown accustomed to, and it certainly wasn't one they liked to have forced upon them.

Colonel O'Neill turned a complete circle in his spot, the movement slow and cautious, his gun raised, ready to fire, but he saw nothing worth wasting a clip of ammunition on. O'Neill lowered his weapon and sauntered back to where SG-1 had emerged, rummaging in his pack for a flashlight as he went. He was certain he'd brought one, but finding it would be another story. He knew there was one in his pack somewhere though.

Not finding anything in his search, he sighed and gave up. He squinted into the dark, and could just make out the shadows of the rest of SG-1, each member shifting uncomfortably in the deathly silence. Detecting the uneasiness of his team, he decided to ease the tension a bit, in the only way he knew how.

"Well, this is welcoming isn't it?" Colonel O'Neill asked his team, voice dripping with pleasant sarcasm. His voice echoed in the empty area, and he heard Sam and Jonas jump slightly at his words.

"If you insist, O'Neill." Teal'c replied, deadpan, as usual from the Colonel's left. Jack drew in a startled breath. Hadn't Teal'c just been standing with the other two? He was sure he'd seen a third shadow, he was almost certain of it.

When he looked back to where Carter and Jonas stood, he saw only two shapes.

"Teal'c weren't you just over there?" Jack asked.

"To where are you referring, O'Neill?" Teal'c questioned.

"There, next to Jonas."

"I was not." Teal'c informed O'Neill.

Jack cast a puzzled look into the black night, searching for the third shape. He saw nothing; shook his head, and decided that what he'd seen was only a figment of his imagination. After all, the dark has an annoying tendency to play tricks on one's mind.

The icy wind picked up again, feeling as though cold fingers were running down the team's backs, it made all of them shiver to try and shake the eerie feeling that accompanied the wind.

"Carter, do we have to stay here? It gives me the creeps." O'Neill whined mockingly.

"Sir, I don't understand. The MALP showed a generally peaceful planet with a climate much like that of Earth in the summer months. It was nothing like this." Replied Major Carter from somewhere to O'Neill's right.

"So, we have the wrong planet?" Jack asked hopefully.

"So it would seem."

"Then let's dial up and get out of here."

"I will, as soon as I find the DHD."

"Here, maybe this'll help." Came Jonas's voice above the wind. The next moment, light flooded from what seemed to be a tiny pinprick in a black velvet quilt. No doubt a flashlight.

'At least Jonas knew where he'd put his light.' Jack thought with wry amusement.

Jonas swept the flashlight across his friends' faces and around the place that the gate had deposited them. Then he saw it; the red glow of the DHD as the light hit the half sphere in the centre and reflected back at them.

"There's the DHD Carter." Jack said, stating the obvious.

Nodding, Major Carter made her way to the device, only able to see from the shaft of light coming from Jonas's flashlight. She entered Earth's gate address and waited, the first six chevrons encoded and just as the seventh was reached, a clicking sound could be heard from the gate and the entire process shut down.

"Major, what happened?" Jonas questioned cautiously.

"I don't know Jonas, the seventh chevron won't lock in."

"Well that's obvious Carter, but why?" Jack spoke up.

"It could be a flaw in the signal transference from the DHD to the gate. A faulty wire or something."

"Can you fix it?"

"I don't know, it'll take some time, a lot of time and without the proper instruments to work with, who's to guarantee that it'll even work?" Carter tried to explain.

"How much time Carter?"

"Taking into account the lack of light on this planet, the lack of proper instruments, and the weather, it could take hours, days even, and that's only if there is actually a flaw in the signal transference."

"That's a long time to wait in the cold and the dark."

"I'm aware of that Sir, but it's the best I can do."

"Then you'd better get on it Carter."

"Yes Sir, I'll get right to it." Sam told her CO and motioned for Jonas to bring the light closer so she could work, he did as asked and stood over the Major as she took apart the DHD in hopes of repairing it so they could get home.

Colonel O'Neill paced ungracefully without any light to guide him, and finally decided on stopping before he directed his course right instead of left and encountered something that he wouldn't see as very pleasant.

All available lights had to be in Carter's vicinity so she could see what she was doing without royally screwing up the operation of the Stargate and devastating any hopes SG-1 had of getting home.

However, one light was allowed to remain with Teal'c and the Colonel as they kept watch to avoid any unpleasant encounters with anything that would classify as being threatening to the team's well being.

Teal'c watched as Jack sat down heavily on an oversized tree stump and sighed at their current predicament.

"Why Teal'c? Why?" He muttered.

"To what are you referring O'Neill?" Teal'c questioned.

"Why is it that we always end up getting stranded on planets that are dark, cold, and all around disturbing?" Jack told the Jaffa.

"To my knowledge, this is the first planet we have been stranded on that is cold, dark, and disturbing, O'Neill." Teal'c clarified.

"Okay, so this may be the first planet that's dark, cold and disturbing, but it feels like every time we take a trip through the gate, we end up in trouble." Jack replied.

Teal'c thought about that for a moment before resisting to speak. He then turned his head into the darkness and continued to scout his surroundings.

Jack shook his head and got to his feet. He casually made his way over to where Major Carter and Jonas were hard at work and stood, looking over Jonas's shoulder at what, exactly was going on.

"So, How's it going?" Jack asked in an overly cheerful manner. Jonas and Sam both jumped at the sound of Jack's voice and Jack jumped at their reactions.

"Woah, hold it. Jeez you two are tense, relax. I come in peace." O'Neill stated carefully, raising his hands innocently.

"Sorry about that Colonel, I guess you just caught us by surprise." Jonas explained uncertainly.

"This place freaks you out as well huh?" The Colonel stated, drawing his own conclusions.

Jonas nodded guiltily. "You could say that, Colonel."

"Uh huh, just as I figured. So, back to my question, how's it going?"

"Well Sir, it's going as good as can be expected considering our situation." Sam told him.

"What have you found out?"

"As of now. Nothing. As far as I can tell, the gate's in perfect working order."

"Then why won't it dial up?"

"I can't tell you yet. I need more time, more information and some light would be nice, our flashlights are going dead."

"Better shut them out for now, we don't want to expire the batteries, we might possibly need those later."

"Sir," Sam began to object. Jack held up a hand.

"Carter, shut them out, we have to conserve energy."

"Yes Sir." Carter reluctantly agreed and reached to shut out the nearest flashlight.

"Sir, I'm going to want to get back to work at this." She implied.

"Yes Major, I know that and you can, first thing in the morning, when it's light out." Jack told her, she nodded and got up from the ground, gathering a flashlight as she came.

"Until then, we should all get some rest. I'll keep first watch. Pick a comfy place on the ground, if you can find one." Jack told her.

Sam rolled her eyes, wandered over to a place close to the DHD, and laid out her bedroll. However, amidst the darkness and the wind, she found it difficult to settle down and get any rest.

Colonel O'Neill took up residence on his stump and sat rigidly, looking around in the darkness as the rest of his team settled.

Despite the chill factor, Colonel O'Neill found himself dozing off and immediately shook his head to clear it.

"Three hours Jack, three hours and then you will be permitted to go off to dreamland until your second shift comes up." He reassured himself.

An hour had passed when O'Neill fell into a light sleep, his readied weapon falling to the damp ground with a silent thump.

Sometime later, he wasn't sure how long it had been; he was jolted awake by a shuffling sound, somewhere behind him. He whirled around, any last traces of sleep being snatched from his foggy mind, and he was immediately aware of anything and everything around him.

He grasped the flashlight at his waist and turned it on, shining it in the direction of the noise. When nothing turned up, he switched the direction of the beam towards his team. Jonas, Sam and Teal'c were all accounted for and with the exception of Teal'c, were still asleep.

"What was that?" Jack whispered to Teal'c.

"I heard it as well O'Neill. Although, I do not know what it was." Teal'c replied, rising to his feet and coming over to the Colonel.

Then the realization hit Jack. "I fell asleep." He replied in astonishment.

"So it would appear."

"I fell asleep!" Jack repeated.

Teal'c remained silent as Jack cursed himself for falling asleep on watch and eyed him curiously.

"Would you like me to take over watch, O'Neill?" Questioned the Jaffa.

Jack shook his head. "No, I'm wide awake now, there would be no sense in it."

"As you wish." Teal'c replied and returned to his place on the ground, falling asleep quickly, well into a deep state of meditation was more like it. Either way, Teal'c's breathing leveled off and he was silent.

O'Neill sighed and decided on keeping watch while standing instead of sitting. He did just that.

About a half-hour later, another sound brought Jack out of his thoughts and his attention turned toward whatever was creating the sound.

He turned back to his sleeping teammates and realized that all of them, even Teal'c were still asleep.

Without a further thought, he decided to investigate the noise himself and so, took off in the direction that it came from. His trek led him to an area of dense bush that was oddly illuminated in a glow of gold.

"Okay, this is...odd." He concluded and ventured further into the light. He came to a dead stop roughly five feet from where he began walking from and gazed ahead of him.

A woman about five feet tall, with brunette hair that tumbled past her shoulders to her mid back in elegant curls turned towards him. She was dressed in a blue gown that swept around her, over her feet and she had a complexion that was pale, yet it glowed. His attention was drawn to her almond-shaped eyes. They were a piercing shade of blue, that was so close to violet, you could spit to make the difference and were evenly set on either side of her delicate nose above well defined cheekbones.

Jack could do nothing but stare. The soft gold light gently covered him and he realized that it was emanating from her. Jack gazed at her as she turned to go.

"Hey, hold it. Wait up, where are you going. Better yet, who are you?" Jack called after her and took off into the forest.

As he followed he noticed she was getting fainter and harder to see. She stopped and turned back towards him. And she'd changed, to be truthful, she looked like she been to hell and back.

Her gown was in tatters and torn, her brunette curls were matted to her head and hung limply against her back. Her violet eyes housing a pained look within them were dull and lifeless. Scratches and cuts mutilated her complexion and made Colonel O'Neill's skin crawl.

He stopped then and stood, looking at her in sheer horror. What had happened to the woman he'd just seen moments before? This wasn't the same person, it couldn't be.

"Jack, please help me." The battered woman wailed before coming at him at a speed twice as fast as he could run. He toppled backwards to avoid her and hit the ground, hard. It knocked every ounce of air he had in him out and left him gasping for breath. He looked up at this woman that had pleaded for his help and her face twisted into a look of pure and utter evil. Her eyes glittered menacingly and Jack brought his arms up to cover his head against what was to come.

When he removed his arms again, nothing but darkness greeted him and there was no sign of the mysterious woman that had been there only seconds before.

He lay there on the cold ground, regaining his breath and composure. He got to his feet shakily as a confused look crossed his face. He turned; making one final sweep across his surroundings to be sure there really was nothing there and made his way back to camp.

Upon entering the camping area, the eerie golden glow was back and Jack immediately got apprehensive. Looking to where his team was asleep, the same woman, battered and beaten hovered over Sam before floating, literally floating over to where Jonas lay. She bent at the waist and reached her hand towards the sleeping man. Almost instantly her hand transformed into something twisted and threatening as it loomed over Jonas's exposed throat.

"Jonas! Look out!" Jack yelled. Jonas snapped his eyes open but it was too late, the woman had already began the descent of her hand towards his throat.

Jack ran toward the two figures at top speed, hoping, praying he would get there in time to stop the murder of one of his team members, as well as a friend.