Daniel watched as Jack went to talk with Teal’c. The words that Jacob had said hadn’t gone unheard, neither had Sam’s, he thought. ‘You’ve got his body back. Getting his mind back won’t be so easy’. God. What they were going to do? Daniel looked at Sam. It was clear in her eyes that she was wondering the same question.
Jack returned in a few minutes, his face totally blank.
"He won’t admit Apophis is dead," he said somberly.
"He’s been brainwashed. He’ll think Apophis is his God until we find something to cure him," said Sam.
"We have already found something, Major," snapped Jack. "We’ll zat him"
"Like we did with Ry’ac," finished Daniel.
"Like he did to us with the whole Seth thing," said Jack.
"I wouldn’t do that, Jack," said Jacob. "It is said that Apophis has developed a new chemical substance, mixing some Nish’ta with the Blood of Sokar. It may have caused Teal’c’s brainwashing. It won’t disappear with an electrical shock"
"So what do we do?" asked Daniel.
"We’ll have to take turns watching over him," said Jack. "I’ll go first, then Carter and finally you. Take a nap meanwhile. It’ll be a while before we arrive to the near Stargate," he finished and walked to the place where Teal’c was. Daniel and Sam made themselves comfortable in a corner of the room and in a few minutes were deeply asleep.
Daniel was awakened by someone tugging on his sleeve. Lazily, he opened up his eyes to see Sam over him and Jack sleeping by his side.
"Daniel, your turn," she said sadly.
"What? Oh, OK," he replied getting up and walking to the corridor.
"Daniel…" Sam whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Don’t let anything that he may tell you affect you. It’s just the damned brainwashing," she finished. Now Daniel understood why she was so tired and pale. God knows what Teal’c had told her or Jack. Surely she had just ignored him, trying to show that she didn’t gave a damn about what Teal’c was saying, just like what she did with him when they returned from Shyla’s planet and he had told her all that bunch of shit. Jack surely had joked or answered with sarcasm to Teal’c, until Teal’c had decided to shut up. Daniel wondered if he would be able to not loose his temper.
"Right, Sam. Don’t worry," he said. ‘I’ll worry for us both’ he added. He stepped into the corridor to see Teal’c sitting on the floor in what seemed a Kel-no-reem state. ‘Good.’ thought Daniel ‘May be he won’t notice me’ and sat down on the other side of the corridor, far away from Teal’c.
"Daniel Jackson." Teal’c’s voice startled him and he looked at his friend. Teal’c’s eyes were unreadable, all hint of recognition lost.
"Teal’c," Daniel said. "Come on. You must know that Apophis is not a God. Before you joined us you already knew. That’s why you saved us"
"I was following orders" Teal’c replied. "My Lord Apophis asked me to, in order to destroy your world"
"That’s not true. Apophis. Is. Not. A. God" Daniel said quietly, remarking every single word.
"Yes, he is."
"Then, explain me why we’ve been able to kick his ass so many times, to put it in Jack’s words. You’ve seen him die once! If he is a God, how is it possible?"
"It was a trick of the tau’ri," Teal’c replied.
"You know that’s not true," said Daniel. "You’ve saved our lives many times. Why would you have done that if your ultimate objective was to kill us in the end?"
"Apophis’ orders." Teal’c said "I had to learn as much as possible about your world, your base, your codes and your allies in order to help Apophis rule all the universe"
"Well, I’m sorry about that, it seems it’s wasted work as Apophis is dead," Daniel said.
"He’s not dead. He cannot die"
"Then, why isn’t he here, helping you?" Daniel argued.
"He may have been injured"
"Injured? A God? Now this sounds flaky, you know?" Daniel grinned sarcastically.
"My Lord has his reasons to not come to my aid," said Teal’c, and then added, maliciously, "as I had mine to spare you from many possible deaths."
"Which would be…" said Daniel.
"The sorry and sadness I caused in you when I first took and then killed your wife."
"Teal’c, don’t" Daniel advised him quietly, noting how his pulse had raised at the mention of Shauri’s name.
"I took great pleasure in killing her in front of you. Apophis had long ago lost his love for her. He ordered me to kill her in front of you, and it was one of the missions he entrusted me which I enjoyed the most," he said grinning widely.
"You Son of a Bitch!" shouted Daniel and jumped forward Teal’c. His fist would have embedded into Teal’c’s jaw if Jack hadn’t been there to stop it, grasping Daniel from behind.
"Daniel, don’t," he said and subdued Daniel until he calmed down. Teal’c had closed his eyes and was again in Kel-no-reem.
"Daniel, it’s not Teal’c who’s talking. Remember that," Jack whispered.
"It hurt," Daniel whispered back.
"I know. We’ll find a solution" said Jack. "Jacob says we’re arriving at the planet. I know it’s hard, but we must not let Teal’c influence us."
"Yeah" said Daniel walking to where Sam was still asleep.
"And, Daniel"
"What?"
"Teal’c saved your life then," Jack said, knowing Daniel knew what ‘then’ meant. "And he blamed himself even after you forgave him. He didn’t enjoy it"
"I know." said Daniel. "But sometimes is just so difficult…"
"Yeah, it is," said Jack. "It won’t pass. But it will ease with time." Daniel nodded and continued walking. "And…" added Jack, "we’ll get Teal’c back"
Just enjoy it!
© July 10, 2001 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.