6

Redemption

Disclaimer: I do not, never have, and never will own any of the characters in SG-1. I'm just taking them out to play for a while.

To Kate who wanted a break from Angel, and to Ernie, the biggest SG-1 fan that I know

Far, Far away

Evree peered cautiously between the leaves of the tree in which she crouched, hiding. She could see the Jaffa, combing the area, searching, for her she had no doubt. But it was a very tall tree. She did not believe that they would be able to sense her presence. She resigned herself to waiting in her tree until the searchers gave up and moved elsewhere. At this point in time, she wasn't quite sure what she would do next, for she was certain that Ahriman would have the gate guarded even more closely than the fliers, and she'd nearly been re-captured acquiring that piece of information.

"I promise you, Draylea," she whispered, although speech of any sort was not really necessary to communicate with her host. "I shall kill us both before I allow them to take us back to Ahriman." At one point, Evree had thought of simply leaving her host and dying, that Draylea might live. But she knew that it would not buy her host any significant amount of time. At best, Draylea would become a slave again. More likely though, Ahriman would kill her out of pique at not having Evree to torment anymore.

In this thought, Goa'uld and host were in complete accord. They both preferred the shelter of death over what would await them should they once more fall into Ahriman's possession. Death was by far the less frightening prospect.

Evree glimpsed through the branches again. Would those Jaffa never leave the area?

&&&&&&&&&&

Colonel Jack O'Neill cautiously peered over the rock he was crouched behind, then ducked back hastily as one of the Jaffa fired his staff weapon at him.

"They're still there," he remarked unnecessarily to his companion. "I thought the Tok'ra said the Jaffa on this planet were ripe for revolution."

"Evidently their intelligence was faulty," Teal'c replied, his rumbling bass voice unruffled by emotion. "Or perhaps there is a discrepancy between what the Tok'ra would call 'ripe for revolution' and what we would."

Jack glanced at his friend in exasperation. The two of them had come here alone, intending to confirm the reports of resistance and to offer an alliance, and now they were running for their lives, and the rebel Jaffa at his side acted as if it were of no more consequence than a stubbed toe.

"I don't suppose you have any bright ideas how to get out of this mess?" he muttered irritably. O'Neill was always irritable when he was vastly outnumbered and there didn't appear to be a snowball's chance of getting out alive, never mind that it had happened so often, and that he was still alive and kicking, that he should be used to it by now.

Teal'c didn't answer. He was surveying the landscape with a pair of binoculars, a puzzled frown furrowing his brow. "O'Neill," he said slowly. "I do not believe that this is more than a handful of Ahriman's Jaffa. Considering the prices on both our heads, does it not seem strange to you that they are not here in force?"

"Does it really matter?" O'Neill snapped. "There's more than enough of them to keep us from getting to the gate without reinforcements. Which we can't even call for." The last was said bitterly. It wasn't until they had realized that all was not well on PX549 that they had realized they were unable to communicate with Stargate command. Or indeed, anyone at all.

"We are over an hour past due to report in," the big Jaffa pointed out with what seemed to his comrade to be a preternatural calm. "I am sure that General Hammond is even now planning a rescue."

Jack loosed a quick volley of gunfire at their opposition before the return fire made it necessary for him to duck back under cover. He hated having to be rescued. The only thing that was worse than needing to be rescued, was needing to be rescued and not being rescued.

This day really sucked.

&&&&&&&

And still the Jaffa would not leave. Ahriman must want her back very badly, but then, Evree already knew that. But she hadn't thought that he'd be this dedicated or single-minded in retrieving her immediately. She would have thought he would attend to whatever disturbance had caused the commotion that had facilitated her escape, first. She wondered what had caused the alarms to be raised. This planet was far from the hub of the galaxy's activity, one reason that she had initially chosen it. She simply couldn't imagine that anyone else would want it badly enough to fight for it. But then, she had never thought anyone would challenge her claim to it either, a gross miscalculation which she now bitterly regretted.

Evree gave a thought to seeking out the attackers, if attackers there were, and offering an alliance. No, not an alliance, her recently acquired self-honesty asserted. To beg for their protection. If it were another Goa'uld attacking, and Evree couldn't imagine anyone else who would dare, then it would be risky in the extreme. Another of her kind might merely summarily dispatch her. But even that was far the better option than what she would receive at Ahriman's hands. As soon as the Jaffa moved away, if they ever did, she would try to make her way to the gate, almost certainly the source of the disturbance of Ahriman's peace. And there also, would be either assistance or death.

At this particular time, Evree was not sure that there was a difference between the two.

&&&&&&&

"Sir, request permission to go to PX549." Major Samantha Carter sounded calm, precisely militarily correct as always, but there was worry in her eyes. "Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c should have reported in nearly two hours ago."

"The fact has not escaped my attention, Major," General Hammond responded wearily. Military operation though it was, the SG-1 team had been with him so long that they were more like extended family. Sometimes he had to keep a tight rein on himself to remember to treat the team in the proper manner. To make his decisions as a commanding officer rather than as a friend. "But I'm not about to send you, or anybody else in there blind when we haven't heard from O'Neill and Teal'c. And there may be a perfectly innocent reason why they haven't reported back in yet." Hammond's heart wasn't in that last remark. He certainly couldn't think of a perfectly innocent reason why two seasoned soldiers hadn't reported to base in a timely manner.

"So we're just going to sit here and do nothing?" Daniel demanded. While Dr. Jackson was, and had been for some years now, a member of a military operation, he was still a scientist, with a scientist's need to question everything. Although in this case, Hammond couldn't really blame him. Daniel was family too.

"No, Dr. Jackson," the general answered. "We're not going to sit here and do nothing. But neither am I about to send in more people when two very able and professional men have not made their scheduled contact." He strode through the hall with Carter and Jackson respectfully if curiously dogging his heels. He made his way to the control room. "Open a wormhole to PX549 and send in a m.a.l.p.," he ordered the crew on duty, who immediately went into a flurry of activity to obey. "Let's see if we can find out what's going on before we risk any more of our people."

&&&&&&&

As the shadows began to lengthen, the Jaffa at last began to draw back. Evree made her way down the tree and began to make the trek towards the gate. She was torn between hoping that there would be someone there to meet her, even though her reception by Ahriman's enemies was uncertain, and hoping that the gate lay clear, so that she might dial herself far, far from here. Somewhere where Ahriman could not find her. But she grudgingly acknowledged that Ahriman needed to be stopped. And it had already long since been proven that that was something that she could not do alone. She needed help. She just didn't know if help was there to be had.

&&&&&&

"I can't tell if they're still there or not," Jack grumbled softly. "It's getting to be as dark as a woodchuck's..,"

"Silence," Teal'c ordered softly. He thought he heard someone approaching, but O'Neill's voice had broken the moment. As the quiet descended again, he heard the sound again. He reached out and briefly touched O'Neill's shoulder in warning, and held his weapon at the ready. The faint sounds came closer. One of the attacking Jaffa? A wild animal? Or the long hoped for reinforcements? Or perhaps even, something totally unanticipated. Best to be prepared no matter which of the possibilities it was.

Jack quietly positioned himself to back up Teal'c, no matter what. The Jaffa's ears were sharper than his, and he heard nothing, but he trusted Teal'c's senses. But this waiting in the dark for something to jump out at them was making him edgy. Which was another reason why he let the Jaffa take the lead. Too antsy, too much time spent waiting. If it were help arriving, better to have a Jaffa with his superior reflexes go first, and minimize the possibility of shooting their rescuers. Or of not shooting their enemies.

Both men were nearly startled out of their shoes when a voice, soft, barely audible, but definitely that of a Goa'uld came out of the darkness.

"Please don't shoot," the voice pleaded, and indeed, it contained little or none of the typical Goa'uld hauteur. "I would beg asylum from you."

&&&&&&

A Jaffa went flying across the large, opulently decorated room.

"Incompetent fool!" the Goa'uld shouted in a towering rage. "Nearly a legion of trained Jaffa were unable to find one unarmed woman?" Another Jaffa went the way of the first, as Ahriman gave vent to his rage.

The assembled Jaffa stood in fear of what their god might do over their failure. But Ahriman seemed to have gotten the worst of it out of his system. For the moment. And he hadn't actually killed anyone.., yet. Those he had chastised would be a long time healing, though, even with the help of their symbiotes.

"You." Ahriman picked out a Jaffa at random. "Explain why you failed your god."

"Oh, Lord," the Jaffa replied, eyes still firmly fastened on the floor at his feet. "Is not Evree a god, even as you yourself are?" It was a gamble, but it was probably the safest bet. There might be varying degrees of godhood, as it were, but it was a given that any god was more powerful than even a Jaffa.

Ahriman caught himself just before he dispatched the Jaffa. If he went and killed them all off, he'd have no armed force. And it wasn't as if the Jaffa had been disrespectful. But first the intrusion and now Evree's disappearance had put him in a foul mood. He needed some release for his hostilities, which he usually did on Evree, and it galled him considerably that she wasn't there so he could do so. And he grudgingly had to admit that he was impressed that she had been able to evade the search parties. He wouldn't have thought that she could run far enough fast enough. But with all methods of egress from the planet heavily guarded, it would only be a matter of time until Evree was back in his power. And once he had Evree back, she would pay for her miscalculation. And continue to pay. He had kept her alive for a long time and intended to keep doing so. Nothing so merciful as death for her. But where was she?

&&&&&&&

"She's a Goa'uld, Teal'c," Jack argued. He didn't trust Goa'uld, any Goa'uld. Never had and never would. It went against the grain.

"I am fully aware of that, O'Neill," Teal'c replied evenly. He was no more willing to take a Goa'uld on faith than his companion, but he was curious. And he had already determined that she was unarmed. He was fairly confident that he and O'Neill could handle a lone, unarmed Goa'uld. And at the moment, she was offering no resistance. If nothing else, she was a possible source of information, if the truth could be sifted out from the plethora of lies that almost inevitably came from a Goa'uld.

"I will do anything that you require of me," Evree said, not for the first time. And while she couldn't blame them for their suspicions, she truly did mean it. She was willing to go to any length to avoid falling into Ahriman's clutches again. But other than continuing to behave in a pacific manner, she had no way to convince the two men, either human, or Jaffa, of her sincerity.

"That's easy enough for you to say," O'Neill pointed out. "But how do we know that you're not simply the bait in a trap?"

"I have no proof," Evree admitted. "All I can do is help you in any way possible. But I am afraid that my resources are severely limited. Ahriman has everything that was once mine." Despite her best efforts, fear, despair and fatigue accomplished what Ahriman had been unable to over the countless decades, and a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

O'Neill found his prejudices begin to waver. If asked, he would have stated categorically that Goa'uld were incapable of any of the softer emotions. He had certainly never seen one cry. And he had a deeply ingrained feeling against letting a woman cry without doing something to remedy the situation.

Teal'c was also impressed. He had interacted with Goa'uld far longer than O'Neill ever had, and he too had never seen one cry. It did not immediately win his trust any more than it did O'Neill's, but it planted a seed of doubt as to whether or not this Goa'uld was an immediate threat. Or a threat at all.

A crackling sound came from both men's comm units, and all three of them jumped, the awkward moment dispersed. But nothing but static issued from the devices.

"O'Neill here," Jack said into his, hoping that whatever defect had afflicted them had miraculously repaired itself. But there was no answer but more static.

"I believe that Ahriman has a field around the planet which disrupts communications," Evree offered cautiously. She must not only cooperate with them, but offer them all aid possible. For herself and Draylea.

"Lovely," Jack groused. He looked around in the darkness, which the light of three quarter moons did very little to alleviate. "Teal'c, unless you hear anyone else beating around in the underbrush, I suggest that we make our way back to the gate. If that was a rescue party, we'll meet them on the way."

"I hear no one, O'Neill," the Jaffa assured him. Without any pre-arranged agreement, the three of them set off. Teal'c in the lead, Evree in the middle and O'Neill bringing up the rear. Heading for the gate, and, hopefully, safety.

&&&&&&&

Everyone peered intently at the screen, looking at the landscape as seen through the m.a.l.p.'s camera. Night was falling on the planet's surface, but the m.a.l.p. had infrared. At the moment, all seemed still, except for a couple of Jaffa, who seemed to be guarding the gate. That was not altogether a surprise, although there hadn't been a guard there when they'd checked before sending Jack and Teal'c through. But were the Jaffa acting on the orders of their 'god'? Or were they rebels and allies? There was no way to tell from just looking.

Then, one of the Jaffa spotted the m.a.l.p. He directed his partner's attention to it.

The last thing they saw at Stargate command was the two Jaffa raising their staff weapons. And that in itself was enough to make one thing abundantly clear.

Something had gone wrong. But how wrong, they had yet to find out.

&&&&&&

Evree put a tentative hand on Teal'c's shoulder. "There are Jaffa guarding the gate," she whispered. That was all that was needed. O'Neill took cover and pulled Evree after him while Teal'c went on ahead to check out her story.

Evree unsuccessfully tried to suppress a shiver. The night had grown chill, and she wasn't attired for it. It was part of Ahriman's ongoing mistreatment of her. She was allowed only the barest minimum to wear, as a form of humiliation, for Ahriman did not settle for mere physical abuse, but worked on every level.

Jack didn't even think twice until he'd already taken off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. The years of training that his mother had given him went back farther than his military training.

Evree looked at him curiously. She had felt the animosity radiating off O'Neill ever since they'd met. And yet, here he was showing concern for her comfort. She couldn't puzzle it out, and realized that she didn't have the leisure to ponder on it now. "Thank you," she murmured. It was little enough to do, and a show of good manners might help where a more impressive show of strength might not.

"Don't mention it," Jack said with heartfelt sincerity. He really didn't want her to mention it. She was a Goa'uld. He shouldn't care if she froze to death, although it was far from being that cold. He was saved from further awkwardness by the sound of a zat firing twice, followed in short order by Teal'c's return.

"The guard has been neutralized," the big warrior reported. "May I suggest that we use the gate while it remains unguarded?"

"Sounds like a plan," O'Neill agreed. He helped Evree to her feet, and he didn't even notice it this time.

The three of them made their way to the gate. To Earth. And safety.