Disclaimer

Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret productions, and Gekko productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

Jack could see the stars twinkling beyond the branches of the trees. The clouds were breaking up. Under other circumstances he would have been relieved that the rain had stopped, but the stars foretold the reappearance of the two moons that this planet boasted. He knew they were big enough and bright enough to light him up like a Roman candle. He hugged the ground, hiding in the undergrowth while he listened intently for the sound of movement.

The ground was water logged, water had even managed to seep under him during the downpour. It continued to slowly soak into his clothes and he was wet to his skin. He could feel the cold beginning to eat at his bones, but he knew better than to move while he was unsure of who was in the darkness.

After a while he began to see lights flickering. They were still distant, the sounds from the searchers lost in the trees. 'There you are,' he thought to himself. They were still searching for him but the couple of hundred yards distance made him feel a little safer. 'All I have to do is avoid the lights,' he told himself. Turning around carefully, he began crawling silently away. They had managed to cut him off from the Stargate. There was no way he could see of getting past them safely. 'My GDO is damaged, if I can't find the others its going to be a little difficult to get home. Now where can I gate to instead of the SGC?' He wondered briefly if Daniel and the members of SG2 had managed to reach the Stargate. He hoped they had but needed to concentrate on finding somewhere safe to hide.

Jack climbed to his feet beside a large tree and peered around at the distant lights. He needed a place to hole-up until they gave up looking for him. 'I also need somewhere to dry out.' It was still pretty dark, which was useful to hide him but made it difficult to see his options. The tree trunk was much larger than he first realized. He began to feel his way around it and realized it would give an old Redwood competition in the size stakes. The tree's bark was a lot rougher than anything he'd felt before. Full of cracks and fissures. In fact the fissures were quite a size in places. Then a gap appeared under his hand, much larger than the others. It took him a moment to realize that this huge tree had a hollow in its base. He slid inside thinking it would at least take him out of the rain.

There was enough room to sit down and lean back against the inside of the trunk. It was dry and warm. Jack didn't question why it should be so much warmer than outside. A strange sweet smell emanated from the tree but he felt fine, just a little sleepy. The creaking noise the tree was making was different, that worried him. It reminded him of a story from his childhood. 'What was it now, oh yes The Lord of the Rings. Old man Willow,' he thought as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

He woke to the sound of voices and realized he'd slept through the night. Light streamed in from above and he looked around expecting to see the fissure he had squeezed through. There was no sign of an exit.

A startled look appeared on his face as he wondered how the gap could have disappeared. Then he heard the voices again, the guttural accent of the locals penetrated to his hiding place.

"He cannot have gone much further. This forest is deadly, if he went beyond this point, then he is dead," the voice said. Jack could not hear the reply.

He stood up inside the trunk, 'I'm sure there wasn't enough room to stand up in here.'

'Shush,' he heard a voice inside his head say. 'You think to much and they will hear you.'

Jack sat down again sudden and hard, a look of astonishment appearing on his face.

"Who is that?"

A silence greeted his question and he wondered if he had finally flipped. He sat there looking at the wall of wood surrounding him. His knife was probably sharp enough to dig himself out given time, but he felt disinclined to attempt it. Beside the noise could attract attention 'and I can't see how they could find me in here, when I don't know how I got in here.'

'You crawled in,' the quiet voice in his head told him.

"Who are you?" Jack asked again.

'I am he in whom you sought sanctuary.'

"Huh!"

'I am what you think of as the tree.'

Jack decided he hadn't awoken yet and pinched himself.

"Oww!"

'Why did you do that?'

"I want to wake up. Where I come from only fruit loops talk to trees."

'Fruit loops must be the higher form of life,' it responded and Jack could have sworn it sounded amused.

"Why do the locals think this forest is deadly?" Jack asked as he decided to concentrate on his problem of getting home.

'Does this mean that you are a fruit loop?' the voice asked him.

"As loopy as they come I guess," Jack said.

He finally decided if he was dreaming or delirious he may as well have fun. If not perhaps this strange life form could help him. He didn't know how a stationary life form, intelligent or not, would be able to help him, but at least he had a friend.

'You want to be my friend? Then this means that you no longer wish to dig a hole in me.'

"No I don't want to dig a hole in you. Can you let me out of here?"

'Yes, but not yet. Our enemies are still close.'

"Your enemies?" Jack asked.

'They tried to destroy us. Now we have an understanding, if they come beyond the perimeter we will destroy them. None has entered these forests since I was a young 'tree'.'

"Oh," Jack murmured, "it looks like I've found the perfect place to hide."

'You are not from this world.'

"No, no… I came through the Stargate," Jack told the tree as he settled down to make the most of his unexpected safety.

'Yes I know, the travel circle the Ancients built.'

"Why should I be surprised," Jack murmured, "everyone knows who they are except us."

'You're friends made it back through the circle.'

"How do you know that?"

This time Jack was positive he could hear the tree grin as it replied.

'I talk to the trees.'

Jack grinned back and responded, "I suppose that makes you a fruit loop."

Jack leaned back satisfied and closed his eyes. He was asleep in a very short space of time. He dreamed of baseball and Charlie, for a while everything was good. The strange sweet smell drifted around him, calming his dreams and keeping the nightmares at bay. He awoke several hours later to the whisper inside his head.

'Your friends return through the Circle. There are more with them, they look for you.'

"Then I had better go. Thank you for helping me but I must make my way back to the gate. Are any of the locals around?"

Now he could distinctly hear laughter in his head. The sound of creaking started again and light began to appear down the trunk in front of him.

'You will not have far to walk my friend. Thank you for your dreams, life can get pretty dull here. Perhaps you will visit me again.'

"I don't know if I'll be able to persuade the powers that be to make an alliance with the trees. They will think I've flipped." Jack responded patting the inside of the trunk in a friendly manner.

He stepped out of the opening to be confronted by Daniel, Teal'c, Major Carter, SG2and SG7. The group stood open mouthed, staring at him and then the tree. Behind his team mates loomed the Stargate, wormhole still engaged. Jack realized that the 'tree' had carried him as he slept for several miles.

'Good bye my friend, travel safely.'

Jack turned to face his new friend and looked up through the branches. He listened as the trunk cracked and moaned close, then tapped the trunk.

"Thanks for the ride," he told his friend, "you were a great place to hide."

As he walked towards the Stargate Daniel raised a hand and opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't ask," Jack told him, "just don't ask."