Season: 3: Deleted Scene for "New Ground"

Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM and SciFi channel and whoever else.

New Hope

"Problem?" Jack asked, seeing the Bedrosian guards come into the tent and head straight for Daniel, hoping they would take notice of him instead of his teammate, who had no experience dealing with this kind of torture.

He got no answer except for a bolt of electricity emitting from Daniel's cage as they shocked him with their gun, again. Daniel said nothing; he didn't even grunt from the pain Jack knew he must be experiencing, he just released a pained breath.

He continued to watch, sympathy in his eyes, as they reached into the cage and not-so-gently pulled Daniel to his feet and dragged him out of the tent. He and Carter exchanged worried glances, both thinking the same thing: Why were they concentrating on Daniel? What had happened?

Daniel was dragged to a group of Bedrosians standing near the gate outside the tent. He fought them the entire way, but his strength was no match for the two burly guards holding him.

"Explain," Rigar whispered, deathly quiet, as Daniel turned his head toward the ground where a man lay dead. Killed by a staff weapon. His eyebrows raised involuntarily, but he quickly recovered himself by doing it over and over, as though to appear more in pain than in shock.

"Explain!" Rigar yelled, getting impatient.

"I can't," Daniel said hurriedly, trying to avoid the other man's gaze.

"There is a fourth. He did this!" Rigar said loudly, getting closer and closer to Daniel and glaring at him.

Daniel met his eyes for a moment, hoping not to betray anything, and quickly looked down again, "No there isn't. I don't know how this man was killed--"

He was cut of when Rigar grabbed his jacket and started hauling him forward.

Daniel fought with every ounce of strength he had as the three men dragged him. Eventually, The forced him to the ground. Daniel saw what they had taken him for and knew he had betrayed something from the look of surprise on his face.

"Explain this," Rigar said, quietly again.

Daniel sat there staring in disbelief. Someone had unburied the DHD. And it hadn't been the Bedrosians. Electric devices were held to his back as he sat staring.

(Episode description ends, my story begins)

"You, uh...you dug out the Dial Home Device we were telling you about?" he asked, knowing he was too late to play clueless, but having no other choice, did so anyway.

"No. Someone else did. We have told no one of this operation but those who stand around you now. No one else would have known where to look. No one but a fellow Obtracan would have known where to look for your device."

Daniel sat silently again, thinking of what he could possibly say.

"Well, someone must have thought of something because, I swear to you, there is not another one of my team out there!" Daniel said, hoping he was convincing.

It was soon proven unconvincing when Rigar inclined his head to one of the guards and Daniel felt the twinge of pain accompanied by an initial electric shock again.

"You will tell me the truth," Rigar whispered, dangerously close to Daniel's ear. "Obtracan!" he spat in disgust.

With another nod from Rigar, Daniel was dragged back to the tent.

"Daniel!" Sam said quietly, with concern.

"Take them," Rigar said, pointing to Jack and Sam.

They were handcuffed and led outside as they pushed Daniel roughly back into his cage.

"Show them the dead man and the device. Question them. But do not harm them. If you must, use the electric devices, but no more than 5 times each. I will remain to continue questioning this one," he said, pointing to Daniel.

Sam and Jack once again looked worriedly at each other, and then back at Daniel, who had shut his eyes tightly, bracing for what was to come. They had been trained for this, trained not to say anything. Daniel knew not to say anything, but could he take the torture? They knew Rigar would hold true to his promise. He would question Daniel. He would question him until he broke, which, Sam and Jack hoped, would never happen.

They were led out, knowing it would be awhile before they saw Daniel again, because they saw Rigar fiddling with the tools SG-1 had brought with them. It would be a long questioning session.

"Tell me," Rigar started once the others had left the tent, "how to use this device."

Daniel saw that he held up a zat.

"Well...I really don't know how to explain it. It just comes naturally, now, I guess. If you give it to me, I could show you," Daniel tried.

"Nice try," Rigar commended him, almost smiling. "But I think you will tell me eventually."

He pulled out one of his own hand-held electrical devices.

"We can't use the other, bigger electrical guns for prolonged periods of time, lest you will die."

Daniel tried to keep his face passive, but it was difficult when staring down a device that could very well take his life.

"However, we do have other ones capable of more pain, but less risk."

He approached Daniel's cage and placed the device on his chest. Daniel tried to remove it, but it had somehow been locked in place; into his skin.

"Tell me how it works...now," Rigar yelled.

"No," Daniel answered quietly.

As though anticipating that would be his answer, Rigar pressed the button quickly on the remote control he held in his hand.

Suddenly, a wave of electricity erupted through Daniel's chest. AGH! Help! He was dead! No, he was alive; no dead! The device made his heart jump. It made his heart stop beating, and then restart again. He yelled out in pain as the wave was sent coursing throughout his body.

Rigar pushed the button to make it stop and left Daniel gasping wildly for breath, eyes wide with pain and shock. He was shaking uncontrollably. He hadn't even known such a device was possible.

"Tell me how it works," he said again.

Daniel looked up at him. There was no way he could survive this torture much longer. Why did he want to know how to use the zats anyway? What was the point? To learn how the enemy fired their weapons?

"I can't," he said again.

Rigar pushed the button again and Daniel was sent backward with the jolt. It made him hit the cage. NO! GEEZ!! He was being shocked to death from the inside and out. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. What could he do? The pain was unbearable, he screamed, letting his throat grow hoarse from the exertion. He hadn't had food or water for days. He was dying. Somebody help!! He was dying!

Just in time, Rigar pushed the button for it to stop again. Daniel's face was wet with tears he hadn't known he'd shed. What was he to do?

"Tell me," Rigar said again.

Daniel saw the man through tear-glazed eyes. He saw hatred and cruelty in the other man's. He wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

"It's pretty self-explanatory. Even you should be able to figure it out on your own," Daniel said, not believing he was saying such things.

Rigar nearly threw a fit of rage and squeezed the devices in his hands. Suddenly, the zat sprang to life. He looked down in shock. He had just activated it.

He looked and Daniel and smiled viciously.

"What does it do?" he asked, pointing it straight at Daniel.

"It emits blue electricity," Daniel answered, figuring it was pointless to go through another bout of torture over something Rigar could figure out for himself.

"Does it kill?"

"No," Daniel said automatically, "It just causes pain."

"What if I use it more than once?"

Daniel hesitated. If he told the truth, Rigar could hold it against him. But if he lied, Rigar could shoot him as many times as he wanted, killing him and then having him mysteriously vanish before his eyes. Figuring Rigar didn't really want to kill SG-1...yet...he decided the former was the better option.

"Yes. If you shoot twice, it kills. If you shoot three times, the victim will disappear."

"I see," Rigar said. "Now, tell me how that man was killed. Was he killed with a weapon like one of these?" he asked, gesturing toward SG-1's belongings.

"No. We aren't from this planet. How could someone on this planet have guns like ours?" he answered.

"Because there is a fourth member of your team. You are Obtracan spies."

"No there is not! How many times do I have to tell you, we are not Obtracan spies!"

Rigar pushed the button again.

"NO!!!" Daniel cried out, screaming as the pain enveloped him once more. He writhed and convulsed on the floor of his small cage, attempting to catch his breath, but failing miserably.

Daniel went through minutes of this torture. How long could he go without breathing? He could feel his body starting to shut down. He didn't breathe and the device only restarted his heart a few times, now. Everything started to go black, and he was vaguely aware of a knock on the door and Rigar finally turned the device off. The woman guard came in and stopped in her tracks with one look at Daniel. His breath was coming in short, painful gasps. Tears were streaming down his face and she saw the device strapped to his chest.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said, a little shell-shocked. "I was going to ask if you were ready for the others to be brought in."

"Yes. I'm ready," he said, a gleam in his eye as he looked back and forth from Daniel's still form to the zat in his hand.

"Yes, sir," she answered.

When she returned outside, she tried to keep her mind off of what she had seen. She had never been witness to the use of that device before. She knew of the pain it gave the victim; she had heard it was almost 10 times worse, but 10 times safer than the more convenient shocking guns.

"What's going on?" the woman Obtracan (Carter) asked, still wincing at the pain that came as an after effect of the shocking guns.

"You're going back inside," she answered.

As the two were lifted, she heard the older man exclaim, "Geez! Be careful! It still hurts!"

She quickly turned to him. "If you think that hurt, try talking to your friend." She said this to both tell him of the atrocity she had seen committed, for she felt the need to tell someone, and to hopefully let down his guard so they could get the truth out of these strangers faster and she would no longer have to witness such things again.

(Thoughts and description of the episode)

They were led back inside, Rigar standing to one side. She noticed he had put the device away and the one called Daniel was now sitting up in his cage. Rigar picked up his zat again.

"Daniel, are you okay?" Sam asked, quietly.

He looked at her briefly, then glanced back down.

Crap, she thought. Daniel not answering a question, particularly on about his well-being, was never good.

"Hey, Rigar. Ya know that 'we come in peace' business? Bite me." Jack said.

Sam looked over at him, trying to tell him to cool it. They didn't want to make these people any more angry than they already were.

"You have one last chance," Rigar said, looking at Daniel.

"I don't know how that man was killed. We are not Obtracan spies." Daniel said quietly and almost robotically.

Rigar pointed the zat at Sam and fired, sending her back against the cage and then forward onto her knees.

Daniel winced and looked back at the ground, grinding his teeth. Jack looked worriedly back at Rigar.

"Is there another one of your people out there?" Rigar asked again.

"I--don't--know--how--that--man--was--killed. We are not Obt--"

Another at blast burst forth and struck Jack. He, however, did not bounce back, but lay with his body leaning against the bars. They continued shocking him. Knowing the pain that caused, Daniel quickly yelled out, "NO! There is NOT another on of my team out there, TURN IT OFF!"

"What's he look like?" Rigar asked.

"TURN IT OFF, YOU'LL KILL HIM!!" Daniel said, louder than he could ever remember yelling.

"No. YOU will kill him." Rigar said matter-of-factly.

Daniel continued to stare him down, trying to suppress the screams of rage that tore through his insides. 'YOU will kill him'. The thought echoed through his mind over and over. Jack was going to die and it was all his fault.

Suddenly, Daniel heard a chevron engage and someone call out "Commander Rigar!"

He looked toward Daniel, who pleaded silently with his eyes. Praying the diversion would buy them some time. Praying Rigar would not be so heartless as to let his best friend die.

They all watched as he slowly walked over to the cage and flicked off the electricity. He and the woman guard left, leaving SG-1 alone with one guard.

Daniel looked off into a corner and bit back the sobs that threatened to engulf him. He could feel the tears in his eyes. How were they going to get out of this?

He looked toward Jack and Sam. He saw her begin to stir and was consoled by the fact that Jack's chest still rose and fell steadily. Perhaps, with his friends still alive and Teal'c still out there, there was still hope.

THE END

To find out how they escape, watch the episode "New Ground". I just felt like giving Daniel a reason not to answer Carter when she asked him if he was okay.