A/N: I'm pretty excited about this story. Sam and Teal'C are taken. Danny loses his memory. Things kind of spiral down from there. It'll be a bit long, but there's plenty of action and angst. I hope you enjoy it. Please be aware that this story takes place early season two. My sincerest thanks to Carmen Carter, whose ST book, Dreams of the Raven inspired me. –your humble author.
Fire in the Twilight
Doozey of a step, Jack thought as he fell a hundred feet into the river. Daniel hit the water first (having been pushed off the cliff by Jack) and was whisked away in the fast moving current. Almost as fast as the day's activities had led them to that point.
Only five minutes ago, Jack had been walking the perimeter of some ancient rock Daniel was studying. A call from Carter on the radio changed that.
"Sir, we're being attacked by some natives!" she yelled. Jack could hear the attack over the radio. "They have some unusually sophisticated—" She was cut off and Jack instantly assumed the worst.
He ran back to Daniel who was immersed in his study of the rock. "We've got a problem."
"Huh? Jack, I'm so glad you're back! I think we're in a lot of danger on this planet. I was reading this," he said, pointing to a section of the stone, "and you're never gonna believe what's happened here."
"That doesn't matter now. Carter and Teal'C were neutralized. We have no contact."
Daniel's eyes widened, then closed. He looked like someone who had made a horrible mistake. "Oh, no! I should have contacted you sooner, but I wasn't sure. I think I might know what's going on here, and it's big. Listen, when we—" Before he could explain his revelation, a strange looking projectile flew by his head and into a tree, leaving a smoking hole about the size of a bowling ball. Danny paled considerably and stood frozen until Jack grabbed his arm and pulled. Things went down hill from there.
They ran until they hit the edge of the cliff where they were working. They had nowhere to go but down.
"There was a river by the Stargate, right?"
"Yes," Daniel answered, then paused. "You're not actually considering jumping down there, are you? That's suicide, Jack!"
The colonel didn't think about it for very long. They had moved south from the gate and rivers run north—at least, on Earth. To save themselves and Carter and Teal'C, they needed to get back to Earth. "It's our only chance, Daniel."
"We can't just leave! We can't leave Sam and Teal'C here. Not to mention that there is no way I can jump off this cliff!"
"Then I'm really sorry," Jack muttered as he shoved the younger man over the edge and quickly followed. Each landed with a splash and was quickly taken by the current.
"Daniel?" he shouted as they raced down the river.
"Yeah!" He was some fifteen feet ahead of Jack and out of control. All his time in the desert hadn't lent itself to his swimming skills. As Jack watched helplessly, Daniel's head went one-on-one with a large rock sticking out of the water. The rock won and Daniel went limp.
Jack swam hard to reach his archeologist, grabbing an arm just before Danny hit another rock. "I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose another member of this team," he swore. With considerable effort, he moved them toward the bank and onto shore by the Stargate. Unconscious but breathing, Daniel was not a pretty sight. A large gash stood out on the side of his head, streaming blood.
"You don't do anything half ass, do you?" Jack asked as he heaved the other man onto a shoulder and started towards the gate. He would be coming back for Sam and Teal'C.
"What happened, Colonel?" the general demanded as soon as they stepped through the gate. Coming back early was bad. Coming back minus two members and with the third unconscious was cause for a stiff drink.
Before answering, Jack placed Daniel on a stretcher Dr. Fraiser already had waiting. He'd barely removed his hands from underneath the younger man when they started moving him to the infirmary.
"You're next," Fraiser yelled before she left and between giving orders for Daniel's care.
O'Neill turned his attention to Hammond. "I'm not quite sure, sir. Carter and Teal'C were surveying the soil while Daniel looked over some archeological…thing. I was with him when we got a call on the radio; Carter and Teal'C were being attacked. They came after Daniel and me but we got back to the Stargate. Sir, request permission to retrieve my people."
"Not right now, son. You are not going back alone and I want some more information before I send anyone to that planet. If you don't feel injured, come debrief in my office and then you'll go to the infirmary. We'll work on getting another team ready to accompany you."
He followed Hammond to the general's office and fell into a chair. Odd how things could go so incredibly wrong in such a short amount of time. Odd, also, how that seemed to be SG1's MO.
Jack finally noticed that General Hammond was waiting for him, so he started at the beginning. "We got to P3X-772 and split up to cover more territory. Teal'C and Carter left to get soil samples since the MALP detected naquada. I went with Daniel to some ancient statue so he could figure out the culture. After an hour, I got a call from Carter telling me they were under attack. We lost communications so I went to get Daniel and before he could tell me what he knew, we got attacked ourselves. We jumped in the river, he hit his head, I got us back to the gate, and here we are."
"Did Dr. Jackson know why you were attacked?"
"He was about to tell me what was happening when we started getting shot at. Whatever it was excited the hell out of him. Before I go back, I want to know what he has to say. It's important. Speaking of going back, sir…"
Hammond nodded agreement. "Go see Dr. Fraiser so she can clear you and find out Dr. Jackson's condition. I'll round up SG5, put another MALP through, and as soon as you get Dr. Jackson's revelation, you're good to go."
"Thank you, sir." Jack started to leave but the general stopped him.
"Jack." He paused. "You know they could be dead."
"We've been dead before, General. I'm getting my people back."
Teal'C and Carter were very alive on P3X-772, merely unconscious. And wounded. Although Teal'C's symbiote was already healing his injuries, Captain Carter was not so fortunate. The hole in her leg made any chance at escape impossible. Teal'C didn't bother to wake her since the pain would have been unbearable. Instead, he fell into Kel-no-reem to assist his recovery and left the questions of "how" and "why" unanswered.
Daniel lay in the infirmary. An IV ran through his hand, oxygen into his nose, and gauze was taped to his head. Jack sat down next to him.
"Kind of look like a space mummy, now," he muttered, half to himself. He began fingering the oxygen line. "I wonder why everybody who goes into the hospital gets one of these oxygen thingies. It isn't like you can't breathe on your own. Oh, and if you're wondering, I'm fine. Doc said there wasn't a scratch on me."
Jack became silent, then spoke up once more. "Wake up, Danny, we gotta save Teal'C and Carter. Or, I have to save them. You should probably just lie there for a while. But I need you to tell me what you were getting so wired up about." He sighed when nothing happened. "You never were good at obeying orders."
As if in defiance, Daniel began to stir. There was a soft moan followed by the flutter of eyes. Jack called for Fraiser and stood over Daniel. "You okay?"
"My head," he moaned.
"Is he awake?"
Jack looked behind himself to see the doctor fast approaching. "Yeah, but I don't think he wants to be. Is he gonna be okay?"
"He's been unconscious an unusually long time, but our initial tests don't reveal any significant problems. I'll know more in a second. Daniel, can you hear me?"
"Uh-huh."
"What is your full name?"
"Daniel Jackson."
"Do you know where you are?"
"Hospital."
"How did you get hurt, Daniel?"
A moment passed and Daniel looked confused, but the fog lifted. "I fell back and hit my head."
"You fell back?"
"Yes," he affirmed, gaining some clarity. "I was getting ready to teach my class. Then I started to fall and that's the last thing I remember. Am I okay? Am I at a military base hospital?"