TITLE: The Lost Ones
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: [email protected]
RATING: G, so far.
CATEGORY: supernatural, drama
SUMMARY: Daniel is having terrible nightmares. And the worst thing is, they're not only in his head . . .
SPOILERS: I'm too lazy to keep track, so let's say anything up through "Evolution Part 1."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whoa, it's been almost a month since I last posted . . . . where does the time go? Anyway, I'm not quite sure where this is going yet. I'm not even sure if it's going anywhere, although the probability of that will improve vastly if I get good reviews. And I don't own any of these people-yet. I'm working on it, but MGM's got a pretty good case. As my French teacher says, thees eez 'ow eet eez. Although, when she says it, it's usually followed by some sort of dire threat . . . Okay, I'll shut up now.
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The crisp fall air of Colorado Springs was irresistible to joggers; even more than usual were out that evening. One in particular, a young woman, was on the last leg of her run when she heard shouting coming from a nearby house. She slowed as she went past it and looked in the window, worried that something violent was happening. A brief glance, though, assured her that nobody was being hurt; all she saw was two men seated on a couch watching TV. One was leaning forward, bellowing at the television set, and the other was slumped back in exasperation. Satisfied that all was well, the jogger continued on her way.
All was not, in fact, well. As seemed to be happening only too often this season, Jack O'Neill's favorite hockey team was losing-by quite a bit, too. He was not at all pleased, and was making his displeasure known quite loudly to the television-and to Daniel, who was quite certain that the players themselves could probably hear his friend's rant from their ice rink, several hundred miles away.
At this point, Daniel was beginning to regret agreeing to watch this game at all. SG-1 had only just returned from a mission, and he was exhausted. Hoping to catch a couple of winks despite the noise and finally get some peace, he closed his eyes-
- and saw the briefing room of the SGC, instead of the darkness one normally expects from closing one's eyes.
Daniel looked around in confusion. By way of experiment, he took a couple steps forward, sat down in his usual seat, and decided that if this was a hallucination or a dream, it was an incredibly realistic one. What was he doing here?
As if in answer to his thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind him. "Hello, Daniel."
He looked around. "Oma?"
"Yes, it is I." Oma Desala, one of the beings he had least expected to ever see again, walked around the table and took the seat opposite him. "I am sorry to disturb you, but we urgently require your assistance."
"You? As in the Ancients as a whole?"
She nodded.
Daniel stared at her incredulously and with more than a trace of outrage. "You throw me out and wipe my memory as punishment for trying to save my friends, and then you want me to help you out with something?"
"I am very sorry," Oma repeated. "Believe it or not, the Others are beginning to regret their decision to punish you."
"Why?" he asked, his anger slightly mollified.
She folded her hands on the table in front of her. "Anubis is beginning to become a threat to us as well as to you."
Daniel's curiosity was getting the better of him. "You defeated him once, right? Can't you just do that again?"
Oma sighed. "We were only able to attack him directly when he was one of us. Now that he is at least partly mortal, the Others are still overly cautious about doing the same again. They're afraid that he will become even more irate," she said, and had this been anyone else, Daniel might almost have thought she was sneering.
"So he can attack you, and you can't do anything about it?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Oma explained. "Fortunately, he cannot reach us directly. The problem is that he was able to acquire many followers among us in the brief time he was fully Ascended. It was they who prevented us from forcing him back to fully mortal form. You may have heard of them-we call them the Perii."
"I don't remember much of anything from when I was ascended," Daniel said thoughtfully, "but the name sounds familiar. It's Latin for 'lost ones,' right?"
Oma Desala nodded in confirmation. "Precisely. We are able to fight back against them, if not against Anubis himself, but he still has enough influence in our plane to make the Perii extremely formidable. What is more- " she closed her eyes sadly-"some Ascended have been killed. And, unlike you, they have no higher plane to which to rise. They are lost forever."
Daniel bowed his head in sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear all this, but what can I do to help? I'm no longer one of you. I don't have anywhere near the powers you have."
"But you do, Daniel," said Oma Desala seriously. "As I told you before, the Others are beginning to regret banishing you-your extensive experience fighting the Goa'ould would make you a great asset to our cause. We cannot bring you fully back among us, as you are still alive, but while you are asleep, as now, you can exist temporarily on our plane-and that means that, during those times, you will have the same powers you had when you were wholly Ascended, and you will be free to use them in combat against the Perii." Daniel could only gape, speechless, as Oma continued, "It is your choice to make, but we would be deeply honored if you would fight alongside us."
Daniel opened and closed his mouth several times before he could make any sound. Finally, though, he managed to come up with "Wow." With a few more seconds of effort, something more coherent emerged: "I would be like to fight with you as well. I have nothing against waging war against the Goa'ould. But-" he held up a finger-"I could really use a good night's sleep first."
"Of course." Oma actually smiled slightly. "To my knowledge, there is little risk of an attack by the Perii at this time. You may return for now; I hope to see you again soon."
Daniel smiled back. "Thanks." Then a thought occurred to him. "Before I go, could you tell me how Shifu's doing? I haven't seen him in a while."
"Actually, you have, although I doubt you remember it. I believe he is all right, but I will check." Oma cocked her head, as if listening for something and after a moment nodded and said, "Yes, he is fine. We have managed to keep him quite well protected-" She broke off as a look of alarm crossed her face.
"What is it?" Daniel said urgently. "What's wrong?" But, a moment later, he heard it himself. A low rumble was beginning-inside his head, it felt like- and gradually growing louder. "What is it?" he asked again.
Finally, Oma turned to look at him her face grim. "I was wrong," she said. "The Perii are attacking."
He had barely had time to register this when the familiar room around them suddenly began to melt.
AUTHOR: Cyn(di)
EMAIL: [email protected]
RATING: G, so far.
CATEGORY: supernatural, drama
SUMMARY: Daniel is having terrible nightmares. And the worst thing is, they're not only in his head . . .
SPOILERS: I'm too lazy to keep track, so let's say anything up through "Evolution Part 1."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whoa, it's been almost a month since I last posted . . . . where does the time go? Anyway, I'm not quite sure where this is going yet. I'm not even sure if it's going anywhere, although the probability of that will improve vastly if I get good reviews. And I don't own any of these people-yet. I'm working on it, but MGM's got a pretty good case. As my French teacher says, thees eez 'ow eet eez. Although, when she says it, it's usually followed by some sort of dire threat . . . Okay, I'll shut up now.
--------------------------------------------------
The crisp fall air of Colorado Springs was irresistible to joggers; even more than usual were out that evening. One in particular, a young woman, was on the last leg of her run when she heard shouting coming from a nearby house. She slowed as she went past it and looked in the window, worried that something violent was happening. A brief glance, though, assured her that nobody was being hurt; all she saw was two men seated on a couch watching TV. One was leaning forward, bellowing at the television set, and the other was slumped back in exasperation. Satisfied that all was well, the jogger continued on her way.
All was not, in fact, well. As seemed to be happening only too often this season, Jack O'Neill's favorite hockey team was losing-by quite a bit, too. He was not at all pleased, and was making his displeasure known quite loudly to the television-and to Daniel, who was quite certain that the players themselves could probably hear his friend's rant from their ice rink, several hundred miles away.
At this point, Daniel was beginning to regret agreeing to watch this game at all. SG-1 had only just returned from a mission, and he was exhausted. Hoping to catch a couple of winks despite the noise and finally get some peace, he closed his eyes-
- and saw the briefing room of the SGC, instead of the darkness one normally expects from closing one's eyes.
Daniel looked around in confusion. By way of experiment, he took a couple steps forward, sat down in his usual seat, and decided that if this was a hallucination or a dream, it was an incredibly realistic one. What was he doing here?
As if in answer to his thoughts, a familiar voice came from behind him. "Hello, Daniel."
He looked around. "Oma?"
"Yes, it is I." Oma Desala, one of the beings he had least expected to ever see again, walked around the table and took the seat opposite him. "I am sorry to disturb you, but we urgently require your assistance."
"You? As in the Ancients as a whole?"
She nodded.
Daniel stared at her incredulously and with more than a trace of outrage. "You throw me out and wipe my memory as punishment for trying to save my friends, and then you want me to help you out with something?"
"I am very sorry," Oma repeated. "Believe it or not, the Others are beginning to regret their decision to punish you."
"Why?" he asked, his anger slightly mollified.
She folded her hands on the table in front of her. "Anubis is beginning to become a threat to us as well as to you."
Daniel's curiosity was getting the better of him. "You defeated him once, right? Can't you just do that again?"
Oma sighed. "We were only able to attack him directly when he was one of us. Now that he is at least partly mortal, the Others are still overly cautious about doing the same again. They're afraid that he will become even more irate," she said, and had this been anyone else, Daniel might almost have thought she was sneering.
"So he can attack you, and you can't do anything about it?" he asked.
"Not exactly," Oma explained. "Fortunately, he cannot reach us directly. The problem is that he was able to acquire many followers among us in the brief time he was fully Ascended. It was they who prevented us from forcing him back to fully mortal form. You may have heard of them-we call them the Perii."
"I don't remember much of anything from when I was ascended," Daniel said thoughtfully, "but the name sounds familiar. It's Latin for 'lost ones,' right?"
Oma Desala nodded in confirmation. "Precisely. We are able to fight back against them, if not against Anubis himself, but he still has enough influence in our plane to make the Perii extremely formidable. What is more- " she closed her eyes sadly-"some Ascended have been killed. And, unlike you, they have no higher plane to which to rise. They are lost forever."
Daniel bowed his head in sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear all this, but what can I do to help? I'm no longer one of you. I don't have anywhere near the powers you have."
"But you do, Daniel," said Oma Desala seriously. "As I told you before, the Others are beginning to regret banishing you-your extensive experience fighting the Goa'ould would make you a great asset to our cause. We cannot bring you fully back among us, as you are still alive, but while you are asleep, as now, you can exist temporarily on our plane-and that means that, during those times, you will have the same powers you had when you were wholly Ascended, and you will be free to use them in combat against the Perii." Daniel could only gape, speechless, as Oma continued, "It is your choice to make, but we would be deeply honored if you would fight alongside us."
Daniel opened and closed his mouth several times before he could make any sound. Finally, though, he managed to come up with "Wow." With a few more seconds of effort, something more coherent emerged: "I would be like to fight with you as well. I have nothing against waging war against the Goa'ould. But-" he held up a finger-"I could really use a good night's sleep first."
"Of course." Oma actually smiled slightly. "To my knowledge, there is little risk of an attack by the Perii at this time. You may return for now; I hope to see you again soon."
Daniel smiled back. "Thanks." Then a thought occurred to him. "Before I go, could you tell me how Shifu's doing? I haven't seen him in a while."
"Actually, you have, although I doubt you remember it. I believe he is all right, but I will check." Oma cocked her head, as if listening for something and after a moment nodded and said, "Yes, he is fine. We have managed to keep him quite well protected-" She broke off as a look of alarm crossed her face.
"What is it?" Daniel said urgently. "What's wrong?" But, a moment later, he heard it himself. A low rumble was beginning-inside his head, it felt like- and gradually growing louder. "What is it?" he asked again.
Finally, Oma turned to look at him her face grim. "I was wrong," she said. "The Perii are attacking."
He had barely had time to register this when the familiar room around them suddenly began to melt.