• SPOILERS: Legacy
• SUMMARY: Tag for Legacy. The road to status quo is a precarious one as SG-1 finds out on their first mission together after Machello's revenge...
• PG-13 for violence [A] [HC] [S] [M] [V]
• NOTES: Formerly published in Gateways 4

With a small sideways glance, Doctor Daniel Jackson watched as one Colonel Jack O'Neill pretended to be looking anywhere but at the cave where Daniel was crouched down near its mouth. Pacing left and right, muttering out loud to Sam about how the samples were going as if he was even remotely interested, the older man was trying very hard not to be conspicuous.

And failing miserably.

Waiting to see when good ole Doctor Jackson suddenly falls off the edge again, Daniel thought sourly, shaking his head as a bitter taste rose up his throat as he watched the telltale signs of Jack O'Neill worried- running a hand through pepper graying short hair. Back and forth, back and forth the pacing went. Daniel hadn't seen Jack like this since Daniel suffered withdrawal from the sarcophagus. He came to after breaking down in the storage closet to find Jack doing the same rhythmic walking around his private room in the infirmary, the older man unaware of being watched. Otherwise, the colonel would have stopped and cracked a joke for his benefit. No, it was surely a bad sign if Jack, who usually would find something to keep himself busy, was suddenly at a loss for distraction. And Daniel knew who the pacing was for.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

He felt his back curve, leaning him forward. His shoulders ached, his neck cramping painfully with each turn of the head; his body finally deciding to choose now to make a protest about his nights of little sleep.

Two fingers up to his right temple, he pressed down, tips going in a tiny circle, but the slowly growing headache refused to leave. It spread around to the front, and the cave wall blurred to a haze of pinks before clearing. Eyes dry, blinking didn't even help, Daniel wanted no more than to curl on the sandy ground and wait for the world to brighten again around him. But there was no luck this being all a dream. He could feel reality pulling down on his limbs, making even the camel haired brush in his hand heavy as a mallet.

Daniel stared at the faint carvings on the cave once more, the writings he was able to salvage under layers of dust and carbon. They were similar to other caves he'd found on the bottom of this slope, only not as well preserved. Daniel normally would have been jumping at the wonderful chance, at the rare find, but all he could manage to dredge up was the thought he should try and work on this wall. He absently dabbed his brush against one slender stroke to tap the grit out, revealing pale pink colorings of a once vibrant painting of what looked like a buffalo. He couldn't uncover all of it. The parts closer to the cave entrance were worn to smooth slate. Deeper in the cavern, the paintings were barely coaxed out of time and erosion. But they were in better condition than some of the others. Listlessly, Daniel tapped the bristles on one carving, applying the chemicals with a soft cloth. A small person emerged, looking like it was running away from the buffalo, spear in hand, pointing to its pursuer behind it. Daniel flashed an image of hundreds of buffaloes, snorting, charging, steering for the hapless painted person, alone with a pathetic stroke representing its weapon.

He could see himself being stampeded by the lone buffalo, hundreds surely hiding under the layers of worn rock and dust, yet to be uncovered by a brush, waiting to thunder over him with their hard hooves. The archeologist could hear the roaring rhythm of hooves pounding on stone, reaching for a fragile body to smash to nothing. He felt a rush of pity for the rust stained drawing and its pathetic stick grasped in its long fingered hand.

"I know how you feel," he murmured to the poor figure, the brush slipping from his own.

"How's everything going here?" came Jack's quiet inquiry, echoing in the shallow cave. The colonel paused at the mouth of the cave, fidgeting in place. "You okay in there?" Daniel flinched, feeling the concern like a slap.

"Fine," Daniel muttered, wiping the dust from his face, feeling his eyes burn as his vision blurred once more. He rotated his shoulders back, sitting up higher and forced his voice to be firmer. "I'm fine," he repeated. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack finally nod before moving closer to Sam instead. Daniel let his shoulders droop, heaving a sigh.

The door slammed shut with such a bang Daniel flinched.

Daniel took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. He could feel the tight tension in his shoulders ease back a bit. He could do this. It'd been two weeks, more than ample time to work the drugs out of his system, for the doctors to run their dopamine levels tests on him and for the scrawl of Warner's name on the report, signing him fit for duty. He could do this. Dreams, night visitors, restless tossing and turning, that was all expected, right? He didn't need to see a psychiatrist about his 'experiences' as Mackenzie named them. He didn't need Jack knocking at his office door every few hours to see if he was still in there with all the work he could manage to find. No. He was fine. He didn't need people knocking on his door hesitantly, asking quietly if it was okay to come in rather than barging in like they usually did. He didn't need this. Didn't need anyone to hover.

All he wanted was to be left alone.

* * * * *

"How do you heal broken trust?"

Colonel Jack O'Neill set his jaw, mouth pressed to a thin line as he realized he hadn't heard more than a "I'm going to check the cave over there" from their archeologist since they'd arrive on P5T-631. Checking his watch again, he realized that meant hours since the Jackson's silent treatment special.

"That should cover the grid, sir," Carter was saying, oblivious to his distracted thoughts. She turned around to a row of miniature satellite dishes, cables snaking towards what looked like to Jack a motorized lawn mower without the driver seat. She waved towards the laptop on top of the equipment. "All set to record as much of the asteroid showers as we can. And if the first team's readings were correct, looks like this is one of many in a series to come in the following weeks." Her words stumbled after each other in her growing excitement. "This is going to give us a lot of information, sir. When SG-11 first surveyed the Stargate area, I don't think they realized the magnitude of their discovery when they took those preliminary core samples."

"Uh...great," Jack said lamely, as he took the glass tubing with a grunt, handing it over to Teal'c who had appeared out of nowhere. The Jaffa barely blinked, accepting the core easily before moving to the gathered backpacks, slipping the rod with the rest of its siblings.

The reddish sands of P5T-631, darkened by the shadows of the maze of cliffs, surrounded him like a very large version of England's Stonehedge, their own equipment standing out with their gleaming metal and black backpacks. A cluster of tent poles stuck on the ground to stake their spots swayed like shivering beings under a wind that only slowed down or pick up, but never went away. The compact space they'd set camp on, basically the size of a modest softball field, seemed even smaller now as he scanned the heights of the cliffs, disappearing into the low hanging clouds.

Carter was still going as she peeled off her gloves and tucked them into her vest. "With so many layers of carbon compacted so close together, there must have been dozens of these impact events within a generation to create such an iron rich environment." Carter was waving her hands across the landscape. "Not even one specimen of what was no doubt a vast wooded terrain remained with the exception of grass." She pointed to the broken cliffs that twisted across the horizon, jagged blades of rock spiking out of the plane like spokes. "Moments of impact must have shattered the continental plates and changed the atmosphere." It reminded O'Neill of a tiger pit with its trap drenched in old blood.

Or a cracked eggshell.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

Cured? Jack pressed his lips together before the growl he felt crawling up his throat could escape.

Cured? Daniel wasn't even sick in the first place.

God damn you, Machello.

"The continental plates must have been forced up and exposed all these caves. They could be pores in the bedrock we're looking at or man made formations, but at least with these core samples we can determine and compare the ages of the sample sites and..." Carter was still going, unaware of the fact Teal'c was her only audience as the Jaffa dutifully took one rod of samples after another.

The gray, murky sky was barely visible between the openings the cliffs allowed, making Jack feel like he was standing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Only they didn't look or feel as majestic. Just bleak with its dull surfaces streaked with gray like dried tears on an old, wizened face.

The major paused mid-sentence as she examined a sample one last time before passing it to O'Neill, who automatically passed it to Teal'c without giving it a look. "The atmosphere is practically just a thick cloud cover, but it was probably a lot worse in the past before we ever came through here. Blocked all UV radiation and heat. The planet must have been systematically been eradicated of all lifeforms, then recycled back. Nothing would have survived the intense drops of temperature or severe cloud covers from the dust debris time to time. It's like looking at Earth after its meteor impact that killed off the dinosaurs although we're lucky the effects are cycling out. Otherwise there's no way we could have come here without freezing." Carter paused to readjust her gloves as if finally feeling the chill herself.

The caves looked like eyes to Jack, spying down on him and his team in such a wicked way that it made him tighten his hold on his rifle. It made his eyes dart suspiciously at every cave he could see, even though SG-11 who'd come before had found no signs of life after they emerged from the Stargate hidden deep in another cave over half a day's walk away.

One cave in particular drew his attention. At the ground level and lit with an electric lantern in the center of the cavern, a solitary figure hunched over a mess of tools.

As if aware of the distant scrutiny, the subject of Jack's observation looked up, tilting back his boonie hat, and O'Neill hastily turned away.

Jack didn't know anything about plates and stuff like that. Despite how "fascinating" Carter was crowing this place was, the stillness of the planet actually held some tangibility and sounded loud. It made the skin on Jack's hands itch. It was kind of ironic. This silent place was actually the nosiest place of them all, the lack of sound of any activity rung in his ears as audible as a drum beating by his head. The place looked dull and potentially uninteresting, but she was going through debriefing the day before prattling about carbon and tectonic shifts and what nots. Carter was literally racing down the long path the moment they arrived through the Stargate, chomping at the bit to punch holes on the planet for her damn dirt samples.

It felt sad though, when Daniel didn't join in on the academic frenzy, trailing behind Jack with his camcorder rolling. Usually, Jack had to separate the two scientists, two brains going on and on like a geek concert in surround sound. At least Carter knew when to pick up her gun and take point. Daniel, on the other hand; would be swinging his head left and right and every which way. Not to keep an eye out for eye glowing bad guys, but for rocks, dirt and temples, oh my.

O'Neill never thought he would miss that.

"Sir?"

Carter peered up at him, her hands still grasped around the top of a tall column of soil samples she was pulling out of a hole dug in the ground. The goggles on her face which shielded her eyes as she drilled her soil samples did nothing to conceal her curious expression. She crouched there, waiting for her CO to respond and when he didn't, darted a look over to Teal'c.

The colonel mentally shook his head. Mind on the mission, O'Neill. Jack tilted his helmet back as he grimaced. "Cold as hell here." He watched his own breath gathering up into a puff of condensation before zipping up his flight jacket. The black shirt underneath and the vest over him were barely enough to ward off the stubborn cold clinging to the planet. He checked his watch and grunted. "Okay, we got some good positions set up. Teal'c, Carter needs some of those sensors up there." O'Neill pointed to the network of caves a story up above where they stood. Even though he didn't see it from where he stood, Jack knew there were hooks set up by SG-11 weeks ago to line a few rope ladders for whoever was on the next rotation. "Think you and Carter can manage that?"

The Jaffa was already gathering climbing rope. "It will be done, O'Neill."

"Great." Jack rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll...uh...stick around here and check those caves again. They all looked like they were buried back there. From the looks of things, they could have gone somewhere, maybe all connected. I better double check them."

"Sir," Carter murmured as she wiped her hands on her pants, pulling back her goggles to the top of her head, bangs of blonde hair sticking out swayed lazily against the cold wind. She looked over to Daniel as well and immediately turned back to the colonel, making the connection. "Daniel said he understood. He didn't blame us for what happened." The major scribbled something on the blank label for the core tubing resting against her thigh, too heavy to carry. With a quiet click of her ballpoint pen, she filled out its location, time and degree across the white writing surface. "He's just...awkward since it's been only two weeks since it...happened." Another click to close her pen, Carter slipped it into her vest pocket.

"Yeah," Jack muttered. "He understood just fine." Like he understood all the other shit life put him through. He caught the look Carter and Teal'c exchanged. It was the same concerned expression the nurses gave each other over Daniel's head before they carted him to an ambulance to take him to Mental Health. "We're going to be okay, Carter. Just needs time."

Carter's eyes again drifted over to the cave where Daniel was and nodded. "Of course, sir."

Jack coughed to get her attention. The major flushed and mumbled about going. He watched as she gathered her equipment, her and Teal'c heading for the shorter cliff a few meters away.

Suddenly he found himself alone with Daniel.

The archeologist didn't look like he noticed the party had dropped to just two now, head pressed inches away from the cave wall he had planted himself in front of since SG-1 had decided to stop here, at the widest valley to set camp. Daniel didn't even acknowledge the plate of food set at the cave mouth, breakfast that Jack knew the young man didn't have when he came running to the embarkation room two minutes late. The archeologist was apologizing over and over again something about oversleeping until Jack was sorely tempted to bark at him to knock it off, but instead, he only herded the kids through the Stargate, grumbling about their schedule. Daniel kept his head slightly bowed as he was putting on his glasses, totally absorbed in whatever dark thoughts he was having. Jackson didn't even notice the chamber the Stargate deposited them in had a spectacular interior, rocks rippling from thousands and thousands of wormholes dissolving its innards, streaking red rock with black, slashed with a milky white. The guy probably didn't even realize the so-called lunch Teal'c brought over to the cave for him was three hours early, too.

Teeth grinding together loud enough to hear, Jack turned away from Daniel, the frustration twisting in his chest making him sorely tempted to use his fist against something. The silence surrounding him made his ears physically ache, the stillness feeling like the somber silence after the death of something. Jack wanted to shout in the middle of the valley. He wanted to scream to the sky or whatever comedian, who wrote this shit into their threads of fates. Wanted to shout to them Jack O'Neill wasn't going to take this sitting down, wasn't going to watch a friendship he valued more than he could care to admit take a hit and be scattered away.

The void surrounding him made his skin crawl, his back stiff with the vibrations of warning bells ringing in his head. It was too quiet. Maybe he should toss something nice and heavy like that laptop across the stretch of land their site was on. Bet it would make a nice bang as it smashed against the cliffs. Bring an end to the unnatural silence like a bell signaling time, and everything could start all over again perfectly fine. But nah, Carter would have a fit. She had been obsessing over the damn thing the past weeks during their enforced standdown, tweaking upgrades and doodads in it until it was what she called "acceptably functional", whatever the hell that meant. Besides, the space was too far away to throw the bulky portable computer across. Now, if he had a hockey stick and puck...

Jack sighed out loud, pausing at how loud his voice was. Stopping as he realized how tired that voice was. He yanked out his cap from his pockets, banging it against his thigh to return its shape before slamming it over his head. There, if he tilted it forward just enough so not to obscure his view, maybe Jack could avoid seeing how lonely and desolate Jackson appeared all the way down there, Jack unable to help out in any way to straighten that slump of the younger man's shoulders.

Two weeks. Jack had literally set a time in his head for those weeks, Fraiser had recommended everyone took to recup from Machello's booby traps. Two weeks to get back into the routine of things as she called it. Fourteen days to forget the bad and get back into the good, or at least the okay.

And this was okay?

"Sir, I just got Daniel's lab results back." Standing center of the door of the briefing room, Doctor Fraiser cast a shadow across the floor. He frowned towards her, wondering why she didn't just come in. She seemed to edge back like she was invading his office.

Apparently not the way Jack was hoping for- a regular run of the mill recon mission, a nice week out in a dull planet, normalcy to the tenth power. No, clearly just pretending nothing had happened was not working. Jack had relied on Daniel's habit of throwing himself in his work to be the cure all for whatever was happening between them. Judging by the way Daniel chose to trail behind Jack and Teal'c instead of matching Carter's eager pace over the dried riverbeds the moment they'd arrived here or trot up to walk side by side with him as usual so he could get a first hand peek, that wasn't happening. Daniel's solitary pace behind Jack was a huge neon sign screaming, "Back off!"

Jack growled under his breath and stole another glance towards the direction of the caves far away where Daniel had meticulously tagged done. White canvas ribbons with yellow tags waved in the breeze on several caves' entrances, telling him how much Daniel threw himself in his work. And Jack knew it was an excuse rather than the usual well of curiosity and enthusiasm burying him in his thoughts. Everyone had given the younger man a wide berth. Days avoiding them telegraphed his desire for space after they practically threw him in the Mental Health ward with the brainy wolves. Daniel might as well have glued himself to a seat in his office. Didn't budge except for one or two cases when food finally became somewhat of a priority, but Jack barely got much of a glimpse, much less a chance to have a serious talk with the younger man.

Then again, even if he had the chance, what the hell would Jack say?

The colonel's shoulders slumped, defeated. Like before, every silent debate with himself each time he'd passed Daniel's office rang pathetic and false. Usually, all it took to wash the bad shit away was to talk about anything else, but the topic that drove the spike between their friendship. Then at some point casually steer to it, them mutually dancing around it with wry jokes and bait each other about Daniel's roc- er artifacts until they ascertained they were both relatively okay about it, then zipping to another topic, case closed.

This time though, Jack took the easy way out- letting Daniel deal with it himself as he always insisted with his patented stubbornness that he could do. Let Daniel handle it, sort it out and when he finally emerged from the hole he burrowed in protectively, signaling he was receptive to his friends again, Jack would then began again to coax some semblance of his friend back out like a groundhog on Groundhog Day. But Jack would have to be careful before any shadow cast made Daniel duck back in again and their friendship went into another long six weeks of winter. He'd figured, no, hoped, their first mission back since the "incident" as everyone has now named it, would be the first step out of the hollow. But it wasn't working. Daniel was at side of the base, inside his mental hole, working automatically like a robot.

It just didn't ring right to see Daniel on one side, Carter scurrying to the other side with Teal'c in tow. It was like going through that weird mirror Daniel accidentally went through over a year ago. The reality before him, looked like it was his, appeared to be his, but something was off. Was this what Daniel felt like back then? To Jack, he was pretty certain it must have. Standing here thinking something was missing, expecting any minute Rod Sterling to pop up and intone Jack O'Neill had officially stepped into the Twilight Zone.

Insert weird music here, he thought.

Normally, Carter and Jackson would be making mad scientist noises together, huddled over something terminally boring the size of a gnat but would equate to an inch thick report for Jack to review after the mission. O'Neill had thought Daniel was bad with his tendency to zone out everything but the strangely fascinating item he was beholding, but after a few missions, the colonel realized the academic half of Carter came out in full force when they join forces. It was like switching the match for a stick of lit dynamite.

And he thought the Goa'ulds were bad news.

Jack glanced over his shoulder to where he last saw Carter ducking into one cavern and Teal'c hefting the heavy drill in one hand, his usual staff weapon in the other. Then he looked back to where Daniel was. His frown went lower and lower as he realized the archeologist didn't appear to have moved since he last checked.

He didn't like it. No. Not one bit. The whole mission's shaky start was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Not that he was expecting everyone to link hands and go la la la down the yellow brick road all happy again. But he had hoped Daniel would be too busy with his archeological finds to retreat back into his shell, Jack was certain he was angry at them for betraying him to Mackenzie.

Standing here made him all the more aware of how quiet it was. Jack paced on what felt like a graveyard. The walking around in a huge circle on the grounds was doing nothing more than adding to his growing headache. He just didn't understand this.

His back hurt from leaning on the doorframe for too long. Finally, Jack cleared his throat and let out a "Hey."

What had gone wrong? Pretend everything was fine, give an apology, then go along with the routine until the real damage faded away on its own with only a faint scar. Why wasn't it working this time?

You didn't believe him.

Jack stopped. Of course he believed him. He came and picked Daniel up from Mental Health right after the call came for him in the infirmary, hadn't he?

Only after putting him there. His inner voice was deciding to play judge and jury today.

"Jack?"

Jack hunched down on the sand, rifle balanced on his lap as he took a deep breath and tasted metal on his tongue.

You left him there, his voice accused. The same one that screamed as he had ducked into the restroom after Daniel struggled with the aides before they sedated him. The same voice that screamed when Jack thought Daniel had died back on Nem's planet, screaming until finally Jack had to bash a hockey stick through Hammond's car window to block it out.

"He's okay now," Jack muttered. Alive, well, and perfectly sane. Jack should be thrilled right? Yeah, right. Ecstatic.

"It's been said and all. Nothing you do can take it back. Just forget about it."

"Guess a steak dinner won't cut it this time, huh?" Jack murmured, eyeing the caves once more, vaguely seeing Daniel stand, stretching out his hands. But rather than step out and head over to the camp for a break, Daniel crouched back down again and went back to his work.

Daniel wanted nothing to do with them. Jack, especially.

"Come on, Jackson," he whispered, getting up as well and going around the scattered packs of equipment before stopping. Jack couldn't even preoccupy himself with guard duty. SG-11 had cleared it. The caves were blocked, no living creature in sight in this barren wasteland, leaving Jack nothing to do but watch a very good friend bury himself in the sand, refusing to ask for a hand up.

Jack wanted to tell Daniel he understood now what he went through, what those things did to him. O'Neill wanted to tell him, draw the younger man back into the circle of his teammates. He wanted to tell Daniel he understood, could relate to the haunted look Daniel had back in the ward when he scooted away, whispering fearfully that they were coming, cowering in the corner at imaginary footsteps. God, Jack understood. He did. And while he didn't hear footsteps, he heard stuff just as unrelenting.

The voices kept screaming and screaming at him, even as he took hold of the mental rope he made himself to anchor reality next to him. But even the rope he wrapped twice around his wrist was unraveling, slowly being gnawed away by the screaming of the dead, echoing gunshots, and demons long ignored finally having their day of recognition.

"Christ," Jack muttered, his mouth suddenly drier than the sand his boots were on. His throat closed with the recollection, the bile taste of hearing and seeing things better left buried in his gut rather than flooding past his barriers to his conscious. He ran his tongue over the inside of his mouth before he fished his canteen out, spinning the cap off and taking a long drink before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced back around the cliffs, a quick look behind him to check on Teal'c and Carter, who were already climbing up to the shorter ledge of another face, and he absently closed his canteen again. He held the container with both his hands and studied Daniel's bowed head meters away in the cave. Jack set his jaw as he saw a hand sneak up to massage a stiff neck. Not good. He knew Daniel was probably not sleeping well. Daniel's late arrival to the embarkation room was clue enough. And Jack had a few nights of tossing and turning himself, filled with elusive dreams of what Machello's devices showed him, waking up from the nightmares soured when he saw the hour was too early to rouse and too late to return back to sleep.

Daniel paused once more, rotating his shoulders and sighed. While Jack couldn't hear it from this distance, the sigh looked loud. The shoulders had gone up really high before dropping. Then Daniel slouched forward as if falling asleep.

That did it. Looking at the archeologist suffering in the gloom of the dim cavern wasn't his idea of fixing things between them. Setting his canteen down with the rest of his equipment, Jack slowly went over to the cave where Daniel was, steering clear of the lone sandwich and apple sitting serenely uneaten on the metal dish by the cave entrance.

The archeologist, engrossed in whatever he was cleaning up with his brush, didn't seem to notice he had a guest. Deep in concentration, Daniel every so often poked at the wall, a stroke here and there before stopping to take notes. A normal every day thing. Jack was accustomed to seeing on every alien planet they ever went. Hell, even on Earth.

"So they...no...maybe he since they refer themselves as...no, that doesn't make sense either..." Daniel sighed, scratching his chin, not realizing he'd marked himself with the chalk he was using.

The colonel stood there, watching as Jackson scratched his ear absently before poking at another crack. And then it hit him.

Daniel was quiet.

Jack studied the younger man, noting the soft clawing sounds of the pencil on paper, the dry bristles making scratching noises against rock, even the wind swirling into the cavern and out with a howl.

Daniel himself was silent.

It didn't feel right. It didn't sound right. And it gave Jack a funny twisting sensation in his gut as he watched. After a few more seconds of it, the utter stillness proved to be too much. Jack cleared his throat and jumped at how loud it was.

Jackson gave a small gasp, dropping on his rear at the sound. The archeologist spun around in his seat, eyes snapping forward.

"Sorry," Jack muttered, opening his hands. "Just me. Uh...came to see how things are going?"

"Fine." Daniel gave a brief smile, too forced looking for Jack's liking before swiveling back to the wall. Kneeling, Daniel brushed a gloved finger over the wall. "These paintings look recent, the colors still well preserved." Jack found himself staring at Daniel's back.

"Uh...new?"

"Within the last few hundred years maybe." The brush was back touching the wall again.

"Oh." Watching as the brush uncovered the misshapen picture of a cow or some kind of large animal, Jack nodded. "Uh...yeah...sounds new to me." It didn't really, but the colonel found himself desperate to fill the silence with something other than the wind's bellow and the activity of brushes against hard surfaces. Jack went from foot to foot, hearing the faint crunching sounds of his boots pressing down on sand grains.

Daniel sighed, lowering his brush. "What is it?"

Jack stopped. "Huh?"

The archeologist gave Jack a sideways look. "You've been..." He shrugged. "You know."

Frowning, his brow forming a wide V, Jack shook his head. "No, I don't know. I've been what?"

"Never mind." Back to the wall again, Daniel murmured, "There are signs of a civilization here."

Jack glanced out through the cave. The valley they were camped in was littered with rubble, sand, shadowed by the tall broken formations. "You mean people were living here?" He made a face as he recalled the dismal rock formations that greeted him the moment they stepped out of the cave the Stargate was in. "Not exactly paradise."

"Probably not recently, but from the signs of these drawings, at least a few generations ago." Wiping his hands on his pants, Daniel then swiped his sleeve across his forehead. The dust left a red mark on his pale skin, but Jack didn't find it funny for some reason. "Apparently, these meteor showers occur every generation or so, maybe within a fifty year period. Probably growing worse each time." The archeologist scanned his surroundings, eyes stilling at the direction of the back of the cavern. "Maybe the natives used these caves for shelter when they occurred. Maybe they were made after the asteroids hit the planet's surface, although some of these look very eroded or almost machine made. I seriously doubt this planet was like this before." Daniel rose to his feet, brushing off the sand from his pants and jacket. "If we could just climb to the tops of the cliffs and take a sample from there, we might know how this planet once was."

"Don't have the equipment for it to go climbing that high," Jack reminded him. "Our UAV flyer reached there but barely saw through the dust clouds."

"Oh." Dropping down to his knees again, Daniel shrugged as he rummaged through his bag.

"Oh?" Jack's eyebrow went up high. "Just oh?"

"It was just a thought." Daniel raised his shoulders and dropped them again as he pulled out his digital camera and started recording the artwork he'd surfaced.

"Usually, you argue the point down the bone," O'Neill pointed out.

"I know when something is a lost cause. No point in trying," Daniel muttered as he swept the camera to the right. A glint of something made him lower the device. It was off his view, black, polished, smooth, as if a piece of it broke some time ago. Daniel squinted at it, hand fumbling behind him as he looked for his chisel.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Jack grated. For some reason, the defeated slump on his friend's back made his gut twist into knots.

Daniel looked back at the soldier. "Nothing."

Shaking his head, Jack pointed a finger at Daniel. "No, you specifically said-"

"Jack, I didn't mean anything by it," the archeologist said tiredly. "Look, I only have a week here. You said so yourself. I really should be getting as much done as I can."

"Daniel-"

"I'm fine," Daniel said thinly. He rose to his feet, chisel at hand. "Jack, you don't need to...I'm fine. Okay? I'm fine." He purposefully strode over to the rock surface with the black mineral.

Jack watched him a moment longer. "Daniel-"

Daniel braced his hand against the cave wall and sighed deeply. "Jack, I've sat in worse places for hours at a time. I don't need a babysitter!"

Bristling, Jack snapped back "Look, we're not-"

Daniel spun around to Jack, the chisel quivering in one hand. "Please. Just give me time, okay? I'm normal. I'm not crazy. Don't keep at me like I'm going to crumble again!"

Taken aback, Jack stared at his friend. "I-"

"Just let me do what I came here to do. Okay?" Daniel lowered the tool. "Jack...please."

"Teal'c left you some lunch over there," Jack pointed to the plate at the mouth of the cave. "That's all I came to say."

Something flickered across Daniel's eyes. "Oh." He gave the meal a quick look. "Uh...thanks."

The colonel cracked a thin smile. "We're breaking in a few hours." He nodded towards the cave mouth. "Carter says days here are pretty short, around twenty hours. Sun sets pretty early." Jack checked his watch. "You got maybe another hour or so of daylight left."

Daniel nodded, lowering his gaze. "I'll get my tent set up before that."

"It's alright. Carter said she'll get it later-"

"I said I'll have it set up."

Jack tensed his mouth, a "Fine" hissing out between clamped teeth. He spun around, walking out of the cave. He tossed a few clipped words over his shoulder as he left. "Going to check the perimeter again. Keep your line open."

Daniel reached out a hand as if to call Jack back. His shoulders slumped, and he lowered his hand. Daniel stared at the lone stick like figure on the cave wall off to the side, defenseless against the rampaging animals yet to be uncovered on the wall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw O'Neill stalking away, not even bothering to play stubborn like he usually would until something between them gave like always. The colonel didn't look back. Head dropping, Daniel hunched over the spot he'd fled to and dully started chipping away at the black rock, the tiny taps loud in the cavern.

* * * * *

A few minutes later, Daniel rocked back on his heels and stared at the fossil etched in the slate rock he uncovered. A small bug, barely the size of his palm was shaped like a pear with its rear doubled the size of its head. It laid there in his grasp, legs up in black stone, its many legs in all directions as if it was trying to flee before it was trapped in its permanent tomb.

"A trilobite?" Daniel murmured, finger brushing against the small bumps which were limbs protruding out of rock. Part of the body was smooth, sliced lengthwise when its covering stone fell apart for some reason.

Gingerly, Daniel tapped the chisel around the fossil until finally it fell neatly into his waiting palm. The shorn-off piece felt heavy in his hands, rivaling the weight the size of the prehistoric creature must have weighed.

"Wow." Turning the fossil sideways, Daniel inspected the reverse side, a fissure that made the piece fall out neatly. Parts of the creature were regretfully destroyed. Couldn't be helped when all Daniel had was chisels and brushes. But despite the rough handling, the black marblelike surface gleamed like a slick of oil, showing off the small minuscule workings of a creature that lived millions of years ago on his own planet's ocean floor.

Wait a second.

Daniel frowned, studying the cave floor. He kicked the sand around him experimentally. Grains flew across the area like a wave, scattering in a wide arc before falling back down to join the others.

"Where's the ocean?" Daniel muttered, studying the fossil gripped in his hand. He sat down on the floor, dropping his head back to stare dully at the ceiling.

He couldn't bring himself to draw up the enthusiasm he normally felt when encountering something like this. The bubbling sensation, the urge to run and show the first person he saw what he'd found was flat in his chest. Not even a rise as he hefted the stone once more in his hands.

"That's because it's just stress."

Daniel closed his eyes. Stress? He wished it were that simple. Sitting in the VIP room, pretending it was a normal day, just playing cards, chess as if it was just another night over at Jack's place after a tiring mission, too keyed up to sleep. If Daniel ignored the fact the VIP suite had a guard pacing outside the door and Jack sneaking worried glances at him, everything felt fine.

Then he saw the Goa'uld twisted around Jack's forearm.

And then Jack's eyes began to glow.

Everything after that grew hazy, murky as if under water. He knew he'd attacked Jack, probably freaking the older man as he clawed the back of his neck. Daniel was aware of the sensation of strong hands easing him down to the ground. The next thing he recalled was lying on a gurney, Jack talking soothingly to him before a pair of unfamiliar hands ripped Jack's off his wrist. The terrifying feeling of desolation rushed over Daniel, and he knew he struggled because he heard shouting all around him before needles stabbed him into darkness.

Jack came to see him. Daniel did remember that. Waking up in a white room, unable to move as rough hands rolled him to a bed, some holding on harder than necessary. Those images were vague. He probably didn't even remember them correctly. He was so out of his mind, drugged to the gills, that a touch which felt like a punch was probably nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

But he remembered seeing Jack.

That he remembered. He didn't imagine it. The older man came with Sam and Teal'c and Daniel recalled trying so hard, so very hard to hold back the fury of emotions twisting inside his chest. He tried, tried swallowing back the fear, the sensation of the floor rocking under him without his consent. But it came out anyway and the irrational words, the babbling recognize in some still rational part of his mind, came out.

"Daniel, stay with us!"

God, he'd tried. He wanted to apologize to Jack, tell him he was trying to maintain the tenuous hold on the reality he thought he knew. But he couldn't do anything more than listen to the thump thump thump of demons approaching, wearing faces of people he'd escaped from, faces with glowing eyes, voices that cooed and sneered at him. He tried. He wanted to tell Jack sorry. Sorry for attacking him, sorry for failing him, sorry for everything, but he couldn't. He couldn't! The more he tried, the more his head hurt, the more the reality he thought he saw swirled like a kaleidoscope, red like blood, brown like decay spinning before him.

Then he saw the dead demon behind Teal'c's shoulder. It was coming for his friends, too.

He wasn't strong enough, not strong enough to reach the monster before it could hurt his friends. Teal'c's arms wrapped around him before he could lunge at the monster, and as he was pulled away by the interns, he saw Jack's grim face and felt the disappointment in the colonel's eyes before more drugs pulled him away.

"Uh...you don't have to walk on eggshells with me anymore. I'm...cured."

Daniel laughed bitterly. How apt a word. Eggshells. Everyone was treating him like some fragile artifact, gingerly walking around him, talking slower, softer as if anything could set him off. The condescending words stung more than the hands where groped his body as he was bound to his bed at night in the ward. They hurt more than the punch one faceless intern gave him when he tried to get back his glasses. Daniel could hear the whispering, the dripping pity from every syllable. He'd heard it all before. He knew how pity shaped people's faces. He learned how painful sympathy could be from the moment after his parents were taken from him in a downfall of rock and metal. He knew how it sounded when he visited Nick, the nurses tiptoeing around him as if he would snap like Daniel did-

You didn't snap, Daniel told himself harshly. You didn't! It was Machello's devices, not you! It could have happened to anyone else. And it did.

Daniel dropped the fossil to the sand, inches from his feet and scrubbed his face with both palms. He wanted to just curl up and sleep, let the sand gather around him and smell like Abydos. But it didn't smell like Abydos did with its faint salty sandalwood odor. The planet they were on had a scent rich in iron, the stench faintly like blood as it oozed around him and-

"Stop it," he muttered to himself. "Stop it!" He banged his fist on the ground. He was tired. That was all. All those nights of seeing hands of strangers touching him, pushing him around, as he found himself bound and locked away made Daniel greet the sun with red rimmed eyes every morning. He just needed to get back to his routine, be back to good old Doctor Daniel Jackson, and it'd all go away sooner or later.

Hopefully sooner.

His head drooped. Would it ever be the same? When was everyone going to stop tiptoeing around him like he was a room full of crystal? And his team, Sam, Teal'c and...Jack. When would they stop pausing before him, watching him as if he wouldn't notice before dancing lightly around him, carefully considering each word before saying it. He knew they probably meant well, but their intentions felt like a blow against his back. Their careful treatment of him told him more than the silent agreement they'd all made to never mention what had happened ever again. Unfortunately, with every question they asked about his well being, Daniel wondered if they were seeing him still barefoot and sobbing like some broken doll back in that ward.

Daniel rubbed his arms with his hands, up and down as he could feel every stare, every wary glance from the moment he stepped out of the infirmary after Teal'c woke up healed from Machello's devices. Like scars, the sensation never seemed to go away.

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson," Warner said in a crisp voice as he slipped the syringe from his arm. Daniel turned his head away. The sight of his own blood filling the tube wasn't really what he liked to see at any time. Instead, he stared at the nurses coming and going in front of him, taking clipboards and trays away from the various beds lining the wall opposite of him, huge lightboxes hanging with X-rays aside them. The concrete walls painted in drab gray blurred before him, X-ray charts morphing to squares of simple back as Daniel blinked.

When was it ever going to stop?

Daniel felt his head drop lower until he remembered Jack might be watching outside again, pretending not to, and he forced his shoulders to straighten, lifting his chin up with some effort.

Crick.

Daniel blinked, hearing the faint high-pitched sound. He looked around him, seeing nothing but sand and the fossil he discarded. "Hello?"

The wind howled, spun sand around his legs.

"Jack?" His voice sounded hollow, echoing in the cavern, bouncing back higher than his voice really was.

Crick.

His eyes snapped forward to the fossil by his feet. The trilobite artifact lay there, its smooth surface shining like a gem, legs pointed up. Daniel stared at it for the longest time.

And then it flipped around and walked away from the rock.

"Damn!" Daniel scooted back until he was pressed up against the wall. Chest heaving, he watched the creature drop off the rock, sinking slightly in the sand before scrambling away. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the fossil in the rock, just as it was before. Its twin struggled to bury itself in the sand in escape. He pulled his hat off and cautiously crawled on his knees before slamming the hat over the thing.

"Gotcha!" Quickly, Daniel scooped it up, sand trickling off the brim as he flipped it up and peered down the headgear's cap.

The black hard shell did a wiggle as the trilobite tried to climb the sand sliding down on it as Daniel adjusted his hat. As Daniel looked on, it flipped on its back, its many legs frantically flailing in the air.

"Hello," Daniel murmured, a small smile on his lips as he watched in amazement. "My name's Daniel."

The trilobite didn't say anything, its legs still pumping uselessly in the air to get up again.

Patting down his vest, Daniel murmured a soft "Ah ha!" as he found his tweezers. Gingerly, he clamped down on its sides with the small prongs and carefully pulled it out of his hat.

The trilobite stilled, sensing the tweezers and froze as if dead. The only thing that alerted Daniel to its animation was the tiny hairs near its mouth, the size of human eyelashes, twitching in every direction. They stopped too when Daniel gently blew at them.

"W-wow." Gaping at the creature, Daniel wished he had some sort of container for it. His canteen wouldn't even fit this.

The trilobite was at least half the size of his palm, black with a surface like mica, its legs a deep mud color. It was heavy, almost as heavy as the rock its twin was encased in. Leaning closer to it, he noticed there were some differences compared to the fossil that lay by his feet, the shape more proportional top and bottom, although feelers now labeled its head, something similar to a tiny stinger on its rear. Still, it reminded him of the trilobite fossils he'd encountered as a student in the university. He even had one as a paperweight on his desk, marred with a crack when Jack had accidentally dropped it a while back during his numerous visits to his office just to needle him away from his paperwork for some reason. Usually Daniel didn't mind though, the older man's breezy entrance served to remind him to take a break. No more of those any more. No one was going to just walk in just for the hell of it now.

Daniel shook his head, annoyed. What was he doing? Here he was with a fine example of a creature that walked or crawled in his planet's oceans millions of years ago, and he was thinking of his own pitiful problems.

Concentrate. Pay attention.

"I didn't see any ocean around here," Daniel murmured to the thing. "Shouldn't you be under water?"

The trilobite responded by flapping gossamer wings at him, silver strands of spun silk beating against its back.

Daniel's mouth dropped open. "Oh." He turned it slightly to peer below. No gills. "I guess you don't need the water." He turned his tweezers slowly till he saw its curved back. It reminded him of a scarab beetle. "I guess you're not really a trilobite then."

Crick.

He paused as he heard the sound again. Daniel blinked at the creature in his hold.

Crick.

"Please don't tell me you're trying to communicate with me," Daniel murmured, pulling it further away from him. "I don't believe I can pick up the tongue."

Crick crick.

Frowning, Daniel leaned his head closer to it. The beetle like being appeared to be dead. He raised it higher and saw the hair like filaments were still. He cautiously shook his tool, but it didn't move. He must have crushed something vital with his tweezers.

"Sorry," he murmured regretfully. "Didn't mean to." He heaved a sigh, dropping it back in his hat. Maybe Sam could figure it out. She must have a spare glass container she could lend him to store this-

Crick.

Daniel blinked, back down at his hat. The beetle wasn't moving. He looked down at the fossil on the ground and gasped out surprised as he saw another one crawling away.

Slowly, he fumbled around his vest, looking for the radio, eyes trained on the escaping beetle.

Crick.

Another one, shaking sand off its body as it popped out from under the rock. Daniel's hand dropped from the radio before he could open a line as he gaped at it.

Crick.

Another one.

Crick.

And another one.

Daniel gingerly kicked the black rock a little. He jumped when he saw another one pop out. Where were they coming from?

Crick.

Crick.

Crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick crick.

"God!" Daniel stood up in a flash as more and more scuttled out of the sand, black spots multiplying faster than he could count. Daniel edged along the wall, eyes glued to the creatures as he tried to move away.

More and more popping up, from the mouth of the cave, the center of the cave, under his backpack, under his boots. Daniel shouted, a strangled cry as he twisted away from them. There was so many all of a sudden. So many as they began to swarm around his boots, the tiny sounds of crunching growing louder and louder as a biting smell of vinegar filled the cave.

Daniel frantically kicked at them, hand going for his radio, jerking it back when he felt something hard and warm on the radio. With the movement, a beetle fell and dropped down to its comrades. Daniel kicked at the horde, watching in dismay as his entrance was blocked. His heart hammered as loud as the metallic clicking sounds surrounding him as he slowly backed away to the corner he'd been in. Trapped.

"Help," he choked out, the sour stench growing stronger and stronger. He could hear crunching sounds, like bones being chewed on. He could feel his knees turn to water, his eyes tearing from the vile odor. Shadows twisted and danced before him, the convulsing layer of beetles swaying towards him. The cave suddenly turned to a sea of writhing black. "Help...J-jack..."

Daniel couldn't stand anymore. His knees wobbled, his hands suddenly unable to move. He felt his back landing against the wall, a faint crunch as he struck the vertical surface, and Daniel was sliding despite his efforts. His hands clawed the walls, slid along with his body and he dropped to the ground. He could feel them wiggling under him, crawling, surrounding him, tiny legs tapping against his skin as they scampered up his arms, through his sleeves and shirt.

"No...n-no..." He could see the cave twist, the smells making his stomach churn. He felt the first bite on his back and tried to scream, but the words choked in his throat. Daniel whipped out his hands, but he couldn't breathe now as he began to fall sideways. He couldn't even scream as he landed on a nest of them, cheek scraping against smooth shells as he watched the moving floor swell in the center and the crunching sounds he heard before grew to a roar.

No...no...someone...Jack...no...

"No!" Daniel sat upright, chest heaving. He slammed himself against the walls, feet kicking out towards-

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Hands turned him on his back, then over, pulling at his arms. Touching him, inspecting him like a piece of meat while he was powerless to push them away. He opened his mouth to scream but couldn't and saw a white shadow leaning forward.

Daniel covered his mouth, revulsion filling his throat and threatening to spill out. Gasping, he whipped his head left and right. Nothing. Just his fossil on the sand. Him and his rock.

He laughed, the odd noise sounding strangled, garbled.

A dream. God, it was just a dream. He scrubbed his hands across his face over and over again. He could feel his hands shaking. A dream. It was only a dream. You fell asleep. That's all. He was tired and he fell asleep. He wasn't imagining things, wasn't being attacked. No closets around, people inside with white or dead faces staring at him in malice. It was just a dream, memories of the ward warped from a drugged stupor and hallucinations.

Snatching the fossil, Daniel stared at it, daring it to flip up and crawl away.

The trilobite just lay there, belly up, without a word.

Just a dream. Daniel Jackson wasn't going crazy.

"Dammit!" The rock flew across to the opposite wall and shattered.

Staring at it, Daniel sat there, gulping in air.

Why did he do that?

Shaking, Daniel run a hand through his hair, breathing in and out. His vision was spinning, tilting to the side, then righting itself again. Calm down. He needed to calm down.

The wind whispered as it blew by, and he could have sworn he heard it snicker.

"Daniel?"

"Ah!" Spinning around, Daniel's head struck the wall and the cave flared in a brilliant light before settling back down to the muted shades of reddish brown.

"Are you alright?" Jack's demand came before his face focused in front of him. The colonel shook him slightly until he saw the eyes clear before stepping back.

"Fine," Daniel gritted, hand behind his sore head. He frowned, pulling his hand back in front of him. Didn't he have his hat on before?

Jack held out his boonie cap. "Found this on the floor." He scanned the cave. "Came to see if you were-"

Snatching the hat, Daniel snapped "Jack, I told you I feel fine!" He shook the headgear and watched sand spill out. With a small shudder, Daniel just folded it up and stuffed it in his pockets.

"I was going to ask if you were coming out for dinner!" Jack barked, settling down as he saw Daniel rubbing his head with a wince. "You okay?"

"Startled me," mumbled Daniel as he got up. He paused, looking back at Jack. "Dinner?"

Tapping his watch, Jack nodded. "We're breaking for dinner. I suggest you call it quits for today."

Guiltily, Daniel nodded, suddenly realizing the light outside the cave was dim, darkening to twilight. He must have slept the rest of the day away. "Sorry. I know I said I was going to set up my-"

"Forget about it. Carter already did. We're sharing tents since the night looks like it'll be pretty cold." Jack waved a hand, dismissing the apology. He froze at Daniel's pressed lips. "What?"

Daniel tensed. "I said I was going to do it, Jack."

"Well, you weren't exactly out there. It was going to get dark soon," the colonel pointed out.

Daniel's face fell. "Oh. Sor-"

Brown eyes softened. "Forget it." Shrugging, Jack motioned to the backpack on the ground. "You ready?"

"Sure." Dejected, Daniel grabbed his pack and his notes, walking out of the cave.

"Daniel?"

The archeologist turned around.

Jack pointed to the scattered pieces of the fossil up against the wall. "That wasn't there before. Is it anything important?"

Staring at the broken pieces, Daniel's shoulders slumped. "No. Not any more."

"What?"

"Nothing." Daniel didn't wait for Jack and headed for the campsite.

Frustrated, Jack ground his teeth, watching the scientist walk away. "Dammit." What the hell did he do? He came in the check on the archeologist only to get his head bitten off. It felt like each step he made, Daniel pulled away by his own doing. Jack was beginning to regret leaving Daniel to his devices for those two weeks. He had been glad his friend was occupying himself, but now Jack could see some sort of wall erected upon rejoining the team. Jack didn't know if he could climb it or if Daniel would welcome anyone trying. He kicked the sand under his boots, frustrated. He checked the area, noting with some satisfaction when he saw the plate Teal'c left Daniel was empty. At least the young man ate something. He sighed out loud. It was a good sign. Had to be. Jack began to walk out of the cave.

Crunch.

"Eh?" Jack lifted his boot and winced as he saw black pieces embedded in his sole. The colonel looked back at the black rubble in the distant wall. "Oops." Jack scraped his boot against the sand and hurried out to join the others.

* * * * *

Teal'c eyed the two men sitting across from the fire, both silent, staring at the flames with little awareness of the other sitting next to him or of the scrutiny he and Major Carter were casting towards them. The Jaffa poked a fork into the tin cup where he had his meal, stirring the watery mixture inside, silently noting no one else was doing the same.

"Uh...great meal..." Major Carter spoke in a hesitant voice. Her empty metal container went clink against her canteen on the ground. "Thanks, Teal'c." She raised her container towards Teal'c before taking a drink.

"You are quite welcome, Major Carter," he replied automatically, eyes back to the other men.

O'Neill and Daniel Jackson said nothing. The colonel only shook his own cup, stirring the contents inside before absently taking a sip. He didn't grimace as he normally would at the taste, only taking another gulp of the warm mixture before setting it down on the ground. Only once did he look over to Daniel before averting his eyes back towards the center. The younger man didn't even pick up his meal.

He and Major Carter exchanged a concerned look before the woman cleared her throat and tried again.

"Uh...the telescope we set up picked up some activity quite a distance away in the skies." She kicked the MRE wrapper under her shoe. Rearranging her weapon to hang behind her, she indicated the satellite dishes with a bob of her head. "Could be comet activity. Maybe heading this way."

"Will there be any danger to us here, Major Carter?" Teal'c spoke, noting out of the corner of his eye O'Neill was sitting up at the word "danger"

"Carter?" O'Neill asked, lowering his cup. His brow furrowed.

The woman shrugged. "None that I can tell, sir. The telescope wasn't strong enough to check, but judging the speed it was traveling across the sky, looks to be not for another few weeks or so. We should be okay during our mission and still have enough time to bring in other equipment if necessary to record all of it. SG-11 will be back after us to set up an observatory."

Nodding absently, Jack muttered "Oh", raising his cup to his lips. He grimaced, wiping a drop off his chin with his thumb.

She gave Teal'c another look, before returning her gaze forward. "Uh...er...did you find anything of interest, Daniel?" Carter went on hastily.

Daniel raised half-slit eyes at her. "Huh?" He rolled his shoulders back, eyes fluttering open wider as he sat up higher. "Sorry...what was your question?"

"Are you well, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked quietly, observing the shadows under the man's eyes, the campfire enhancing them in sharp contrast compared to his pale face.

Daniel opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut, changing his mind. He poked at the tin cup by his foot. "Tired..." A faint smile flickered before fading.

O'Neill practically straightened as if seeing Daniel Jackson for the first time. "Look, maybe you should go get some rest. You do look a little peaked."

Glancing sideways, Daniel looked at O'Neill, clenching his jaw. It was visible even from where Teal'c was.

"I should work on the caves some more." The archeologist made a show of getting up, freezing when O'Neill took hold of a sleeve, stopping him.

"No," the older man said quietly. "Daniel, they can wait til tomorrow morning."

Gritting his teeth, Daniel jerked his hand away. "No, they can't, Jack. We've only got a week, and there are a lot of caves I should examine if they're anything similar to the one I was working on today."

"We'll have time for that tomorrow. Hell, we'll pitch in and help."

Daniel shook his head vehemently. "No. I can do that myself. Listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me!"

Started, Daniel took a step back, his eyes huge.

Carter started to stand. "Sir."

O'Neill showed his open palm, his voice calm as he motioned to the archeologist to sit down. The younger man didn't, looking at the team leader. "Daniel, it's dark, and even though we've pretty much eliminated any threat to us around here, I don't want anyone wandering around in the dark." The colonel studied the group around the fire, making a decision quickly. "In fact, I was going to set up watch shifts." His eyes drifted over to Carter, who nodded immediately, backing his claim.

The younger man checked around the area before turning back to O'Neill, eyes wary.

Jack lowered his voice. "That's all, Daniel. I just don't want you wandering around here in the dark. And we shouldn't take any chances, no matter what." The team leader gestured towards the sky. "Not even a visible moon to rely on."

Tilting his head back, Daniel gazed at the pitch-black sky. Barely enough stars to go by. His shoulders dropped.

"Daniel?" Carter stood there, watching as he shook his head.

"Fine," Jackson said wearily, his voice low. "Think I'll head out to sleep. Wake me when it's my shift, okay?"

"Sure," the colonel murmured, watching as Daniel slipped into one tent, muffled sounds of him slipping his boots off. They were all silent until they finally heard the purr of the zipper opening up the sleeping bag. After a few soft rustles, the tent was quiet, and everyone turned back towards the warm fire.

After a few moments of staring into the flames, sipping his soup, O'Neill nodded to the Jaffa. "Teal'c, take the first shift. Carter, you take the second." He paused, his jaw moving left and right as he gave it some thought before finishing with "I'll take the last one."

"Sir?" Waving towards the tent, Carter lowered her voice to a hush. "What about Daniel?"

"Needs his sleep," Jack would only say, his mouth set. "We can split watch up among ourselves. Okay?"

No one argued, although Carter and Teal'c exchanged yet another look before nodding in agreement. Carter murmured good night, discarding her meal into the fire before trudging to the tent left of Daniel's. The flames sparked up on contact with the dinner before settling into its orange tinge again. Teal'c only tipped his head slightly to give his good night, tracking O'Neill as the colonel paused before the tent before going inside. The Jaffa frowned, hearing the team leader sigh deeply, sitting on top of his sleeping bag and not falling asleep. The fire cast its glow over at their dwelling, and he could see O'Neill sitting there, his profile visible as he faced Daniel, watching him sleep.

Crick.

Teal'c turned his head sharply at the sound, but he didn't see anything around them. Nevertheless, he stood up, staff weapon gripped firmly in his hands, scanning the dark looming cliffs. The sky above them was thick, and Teal'c could barely make out the sensors Major Carter and he had set up on the ledges to record the meteors when they fell through the thick atmosphere. Shadows merged into a single cloak of darkness around them and had it not been for the fire in the center of the site, Teal'c wouldn't have been able to see his hand in front of him.

It reminded him of an old child's tale. There were many from his childhood as he trained to be a warrior like his father- tales used to instill fear in a young heart in order to gain the proper respect a Goa'uld false god demands.

There was one of a demon who walked only at night, feasting on the unbelievers, the unfaithful, smacking fanged lips as it devoured rich red organs before scattering the remains to the ground where new demons sprouted- doomed to eternal wandering and morbid consuming. Claws of white, white as bleached bones would reach into darkened homes and grab the wicked, their screams the only evidence of the demon's presence before the white grasp vanished under the cloak of night. It was a legend, an old wives' tale that spread to the children so they would not forget to pray in the temples or forget to bow to the gods as their caravans were carried through their markets. Husbands and wives were to put offerings at the temple and say the prayer at night. Children were taught to speak the prayer before sleep.

Teal'c frowned, his mother's soft whispered prayers hushed in his mind. He had not thought about the prayer in a long time.

The wind howled, driving into the numerous caves, making its cries echo in multiple ways. Teal'c automatically tightened his grip on his staff weapon.

"Back invisible beast," he muttered before scowling at himself. Superstition was for the weakest of men, not for a warrior. He growled under his breath and glared at the caves, daring them to show a white hand before him.

The cables strewn about the floor made a soft sigh as wind pushed them across the sands like silk against silk.

The rover that carried their supplies all the way to this site creaked as a more powerful gust struck its side, but it didn't fall.

O'Neill's tent where he and Daniel Jackson lay, shivered against the wind, metal poles rattling like chattering teeth before calming.

Carter's tent fluttered as a breeze tapped against her dwelling, settling down again without another sound.

Still looking, the Jaffa paid careful attention to the distant caves, the ones the tents were in front of to hide from the high winds and the ones too far away for him to dare and check.

Nothing.

The fire crackled, hissing, snapping at its own fiery tongues as the charcoal bundled around rags jumped. Teal'c observed the fire for a second before relaxing his grip, leaving it braced in one fist as the other stretched out towards the fire.

The warmth of the blaze reassured the Jaffa, and Teal'c settled down in the sand, sitting crosslegged. Staring at the fire, the Jaffa took a deep breath and began kelnoreem, knowing full well the next sound he heard will wake him again.

* * * * *

"Stop!"

Daniel twitched in his sleep, frowning as he turned to his side, kicking aside the sleeping bag cover. Shivering as it suddenly got colder, he didn't hear Jack outside pacing the fire during his last watch.

Crick.

Moaning softly, Daniel jerked, caught between sleep and waking. His nostrils flared as a stale scent of vinegar wafted into the tent, the sand between the two sleeping bags slowly sinking into a small hole and a swarm of black beetles came scurrying out of the newly made well.

Crick crick crick.

More and more scrambled away as the hole widened, sand cascading down the new opening. Daniel scrunched up his face, his forehead lined with worry but he didn't wake.

* * * * *

Crick.

Jack pursed his lips, staring down at the sand where his boot crunched on the MRE wrapper. Muttering under his breath, he picked the plastic up and tossed it in the fire. He watched it burn, dancing until it withered into a black lump as he rested his hands on the rifle.

"God knows if they have any littering laws around here," he muttered. He massaged the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily. Standing watch was a routine thing. He didn't mind the solitary duty, but for some reason, the silence surrounding him felt like a physical mantle, heavy on his back. He squared his shoulders, stretching out his neck left and right to stay awake. He found himself longing for some conversation, despite how frustrating night talks tended to get with this crowd.

"I still do not understand." Teal'c tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow up as he digested what Jack just said.

Looking back at the silent tents, at Teal'c's smaller tent where the Jaffa was meditating, Jack readjusted his weapon to rest on his left shoulder, kicking at the sand with the tip of his shoe. The fire flickered in the breeze and he frowned. Maybe he should add more to the flames before the wind blew it out. He watched, nodding to himself when the wind died.

Crick.

Cocking his head, Jack listened, his hands raising the rifle before he even realized it was off his shoulder. The caves were shrouded in darkness and mocked his inability to see inside them. It was like staring at hundreds of empty eye sockets. He scowled back at the caverns before he heard the rustling in his tent.

Gun up, Jack went around the fire, slowly towards the tent. The rustling grew to a flapping sound of cloth. The winds had picked up a bit, and sand rose in clouds of reddish smoke, obscuring his view of the tents. His nostrils flared as he smelled something sweet in the dust, bile and sour. It made his eyes water, and he coughed. He raised his hand, protecting his eyes, cautiously lowering them when the haze disappeared. For a moment, he stood there, a short step away from the tent, staring around him and the wind that seemed to be fleeing from their site. He heard a faint whisper of its breeze, hitting Carter's tent before it ran away, leaving the area flat with silence. He smacked his lips, the dryness in them surprising him. He looked down at his feet, grunting at the sand blown over them. He gives them a quick shake and smelled something metallic as the sand cascaded down like a waterfall off his boot.

"No..."

His rifle went up again, Jack's eyes narrowing to slits as he could hear nylon rustling inside the tent. Carefully, he pulled back one flap with the muzzle, almost lowering it immediately as he went in, dropping on his knees.

Daniel was twisting in his sleeping bag, the top flap of the gear kicked aside across the area. Shirt bunched around his torso, Daniel was shaking his head, mouthing no, moaning growing louder and louder as he became more distressed.

Jack reached out a hand and lightly touched Daniel's exposed back to rouse him, frowning as he felt the clammy skin. His fingers were thrown off as the younger man groaned, twisting on the floor to get away from whoever was tormenting his sleep. Jack reached up and pressed down, his palm felt hot compared to Daniel's shoulder and gave it a shake. It was like throwing a switch. A soft gasp and Daniel grew rigid, lying prone on the ground as he woke with a violent start. Jack could hear the harsh breathing, the rough sound of air being drawn in was loud inside the tent.

"Easy," Jack said quietly, pulling his hand away. "It's just me."

Slowly, Daniel turned on his back, squinting in the dark. His eyes seem to glow with the shine of the fire outside. Jack swallowed, shifting until he blocked the glare from coming in the tent, and Daniel's eyes returned to normal.

The archeologist squinted at the sudden shadow, hand out, fumbling for his glasses. "Jack?"

"Yeah." Hanging his rifle over his shoulder, Jack slipped a hand under Daniel's shoulder and eased him up. Jack spied the eyewear, strewn across his sleeping bag for some reason and silently handed it over. The younger man slipped them on, blinking his eyes furiously to focus before he shook his head. Almost immediately, Daniel leaned forward, knees drawn to his chest as he rested his forehead on top of them.

Jack rubbed a hand up and down his back, noting he could practically feel Daniel's heart hammering against his palm. "Bad?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Don't...don't remember." Daniel moved away from Jack's hand, wiping a hand across his mouth before pulling the hand away to stare at it. The scientist stilled, fixated on the hand. He flexed it experimentally.

"Daniel?"

"I thought..." The archeologist shivered. He absently tugged down his shirt before moving his hand up to rub his arms. Jack could see the goosebumps riddling the forearm. He frowned.

"Daniel? Thought what?"

"Thought I was back there..." Daniel stopped, clamping his mouth shut as he realized his slip.

Jack squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay, Daniel. Whatever it is-"

Cringing at the soft tone, hearing the patronizing lilt in the usually gruff voice, Daniel pulled away from Jack. "Don't."

Retracting his hand, Jack froze. "Don't?"

"Don't treat me like I'm going to fall ap-" Daniel bit his lower lip. "Never mind." He ran a hand through his hair. "Is it my shift yet?"

Jack studied his friend, tongue rolling in his mouth as he eyed the other man's shaking hands. He observed the ashen pallor, the sheen of perspiration on the forehead and pressed his lips together with disapproval.

"Is it?"

"No," Jack lied. "Not yet. Sorry. Heard you from outside, thought there was some...trouble."

Shuttered eyes turned away as Daniel gingerly set himself back down on the sleeping bag again, pulling the flap over him. "Oh. Uh...I'm okay. Don't even remember the dream at all."

"Uh huh." Crouched down in the tent, Jack waited. Sure enough, Daniel's eyes fluttered back open.

"I'm fine."

Jack casually shrugged. "I didn't say anything." He still sat there on his heels.

Daniel stared at the top of the tent, eyes glazed with exhaustion. "You have nothing to worry about, Jack. Doctor Fraiser cleared me for duty."

"That's funny." Jack scratched his jaw with a finger.

Irritated, Daniel's gaze darted to Jack. "What? What's so funny?" he asked wearily.