Chapter Text
“Move and you die.”
Daniel froze at the unmistakable feeling of a weapon against the back of his neck. He kept his hands still, notebook clutched in one and a pen in the other. “Okay. Take it easy. I’m not moving.”
The weapon jammed harder against his neck. “Does anyone else know you’re out here?”
If only. But everyone else was probably either asleep, or in the case of Teal’c, in Kelno’reem. Daniel had been outside since shortly after dinner, recording inscriptions on the exteriors of the buildings and talking to the planet’s inhabitants. “No. It’s just me. Look, if you tell me what you want, I’m sure I can—”
Sharp, piercing pain stabbed Daniel at the base of the skull, then shot through his brain like lightning. He tried to cry out, to yell for help, but nothing happened.
His legs gave out, whole body going limp, and he fell. He crashed into the ground, unable to break his fall, and his glasses crunched against the side of his head.
Daniel struggled to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t open. His heart pounded faster, thumping in his ears. No matter how hard he tried to focus, to resist whatever was happening to him… it didn’t work. He couldn’t do anything. It was like the attacker had just turned off everything except his mind.
He could hardly even move his eyes enough to look up as the attacker crouched down. The man looked human, more or less, but a lot of the aliens they’d encountered looked human. The cut of the man’s leather outfit didn’t remind Daniel of any particular culture, unlike the clear Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish influences on the planet’s inhabitants.
“Oh yes, that’s perfect.” The man prodded Daniel in the cheek and smiled. “Can you move?”
Daniel tried to move, then tried to say that he couldn’t. But his body still wouldn’t respond, not even a little. He could barely even breathe.
“And now?” Still smiling, the man tilted his head.
Daniel moved without trying. His arm raised up. His fingers flexed, and then closed into a fist.
Then his fist swung down and crashed into his ribs. He gasped, tears stinging his eyes, and the man laughed.
Okay. This was definitely not good. Some sort of mind control?
Whatever it was, Daniel definitely wasn’t in control of himself. His body got up and dusted off his uniform, then discarded his broken glasses. His fingers wiped away the blood trickling down his cheek from broken glass. Then, leaving the notebook behind, his body turned and walked between the Ionic columns and back into the hall.
He tried to stop himself. To slow his steps, or call out for help, or even just tense a muscle. He couldn’t. He just kept moving forward, relaxed and unhurried. Like he’d gone for a stroll to look at the stars and was heading back now, with his attacker following close behind.
Some of the locals smiled and nodded to him as he passed, and he smiled and nodded back. He’d spent hours talking to them earlier, asking questions about their history and culture. This eclectic group seemed to have been taken from pre-Roman Alexandria, and had retained their individual cultures even after being kidnapped by the Goa’uld.
If he asked them for help—if he could ask any of them for help—they would try to do something. Or at least they could run and warn his team that there was an enemy in their midst.
He approached a group of scholars, who were readily devouring the books that Daniel had brought for them. Yosef, an older man wearing a kippah, waved enthusiastically. “Daniel! Come and sit with us.”
Heart pounding, Daniel tried to shout for them all to just run, to get away from here. There was no way to know what the man still trailing behind him might do to them.
But instead, when Daniel opened his mouth, totally different words came out. “Thank you, but I’m busy. Maybe later!”
Okay. Okay. This wasn’t just bad, this was really bad. His body kept heading through the building, heading towards the quarters where his team would be resting on comfortable couches.
Daniel struggled again for control over his mouth. If nothing else, he had to find out what this man wanted. Or what the man wanted him to do. Was this part of an invasion plan? A way to get an agent through the gate?
“Wh—” he managed, and then sudden pain stabbed through his head. He stumbled, gasping, and fell sideways into a painted marble frieze. A crocodile on the frieze jabbed him in the shoulder.
“Ah, none of that.” Almost friendly, the attacker patted his back. “If you behave, this will all go smoothly. You’re just going to tell your friends that you found a cool pillar or something with lots of fancy gate addresses, and they all need to go with you. No one has to get hurt. It’s okay.”
So he was being used as bait, as a way to lure his friends out. Maybe into an ambush. His jaw had clamped shut, but he managed a whine of protest.
A fist drove into his side, viciously hard. Something in his side cracked, but he couldn’t even cry out in pain. Involuntary tears welled, not enough to break free.
“I see I need to dial up the setting.” The man stopped beside him and pulled a device from his pocket. Daniel tried to sneak a look at it, but it didn’t have any notable features other than a knob. “Say goodbye to your mind.”
The man twisted the knob, and jolts of agony stabbed through Daniel’s brain. Like he was being electrocuted, arcs of lighting shooting through him. Everything went black for a few seconds.
When it came back, he was on his hands and knees on the ground. His head hurt really bad, but that was okay. Everything was okay. It was okay.
He climbed to his feet and smiled at the man beside him. “Hello.”
“Hello.” The man smiled back and put something in his pocket, then held out a long knife. “Here, take this. You’re going to need it.”
Daniel took the knife. He didn’t have to think about it, just did it. He didn’t have to think about anything. It was all okay. He just had to tell his friends to come see the cool stuff he found.
---
“Jack. Jack. Jack.”
Jack jerked awake and swatted away the hand prodding him in the shoulder. “Oh, for cryin’ out loud. I just fell asleep!”
“I know. Sorry.” Daniel smiled down at him and poked him in the shoulder again. “You need to get up. You all need to get up.”
Out of habit, Jack grabbed his gun. “Why? Are we under attack?”
“No! No, everything’s okay.” Daniel smiled even more widely. He looked like a kid who had just gotten the toy he’d wanted for months. “It’s okay. I just found, uh… I found some really cool stuff. A pillar or something, with lots of gate addresses.”
Jack stared at him. “Are you drunk? Or high?”
“No! It’s okay.” Again, Daniel poked him in the shoulder. “Come on. You have to come see.”
Exhausted, Jack heaved a sigh. He definitely wasn’t gonna get any sleep when Daniel was this hyped up. “All right, fine. You and me will go check it out.”
He sat up, but Daniel shook his head. “No, everyone has to come. Come on. You all have to come see, it’s really cool.”
Daniel turned towards the couch where Carter was crashed out. Still groggy, Jack stood and caught his arm. “Whoa, whoa. Hold up. Why?”
“Because it’s really cool.”
“Why do we need to go now?”
“Because it’s really cool!”
Jack’s vague sense that something was wrong became a lot less vague. He looked Daniel over and frowned. “Hey. What happened to your glasses?”
“Oh, I lost them. But it’s okay.” Daniel, who hated having blurry vision and normally got upset if something happened to his glasses, just kept smiling.
“You lost them.” Jack tightened his grip, stopping Daniel from heading towards Carter. He reached up and cupped Daniel’s cheek, turning his head towards the low lamplight. “Ouch, what happened to your face?”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” Jack studied the jagged cuts in Daniel’s cheek and near his eye. They were still bleeding, looked like they might be from broken glass. “Did you lose your glasses, or break them?”
Daniel’s expression went briefly blank, then returned to that dopey smile. “Oh. I broke them. Seriously, though, it’s okay. This is cool. You all need to come see.”
“Come see what?” Carter asked, groggy.
“A pillar or something, with lots of gate addresses!”
“A pillar?” Rubbing her eyes, Carter sat up. On the next couch over, Teal’c seemed to be snapping out of his trance. “Where? Did Yosef show it to you?”
“Yosef?” Daniel asked vaguely.
“Yeah, the guy you kept going on about earlier.” Even more worried now, Jack patted Daniel’s cheek carefully. “Hey. Hey, look at me. What’s going on with you? Did you hit your head?”
“I… It’s cool!” Daniel was breathing hard now, the smile now almost manic. Freaked out, maybe. Something was definitely wrong. “You have to come with me, you have to!”
“Come on, slow down.” Jack held onto him as he tried to wrench away. “What’s so urgent about—”
Daniel jerked in a sudden movement, and Jack yelped as pain slashed his side. He lost his grip, and Daniel stumbled back.
“I don’t… wanna hurt anyone,” Daniel said, holding up a long knife. Blood dripped to the floor. “No one has to get hurt.”
Gasping, Jack pressed a hand to his bleeding side. “Little late for that. Dammit, Daniel, what’s wrong with you?”
“It’s okay!” Daniel made a soft noise that might have been a sob. “You just have to come with me to see. It’s really cool.”
Carter reached for her zat slowly. “Sir, I don’t think that’s Daniel talking.”
“No shit.” Jack moved between her and Daniel, trying to block her movements. “Okay. Daniel, you need to put the knife down.”
“Nobody move!” Daniel shouted. “Or— Or—”
He twisted the knife around and brought it down on his own arm, the blade slashing through his uniform. He did it again and again, blood spattering the ground.
“No!” Jack sprinted forward, but Daniel turned and ran. “Daniel, stop!”
Daniel ran out into the hallway and then stopped. “Jack, it’s okay,” he said as blood dripped off his fingers and puddled on the ground beside him. “It’s okay.”
“That’s right, kiddo. Good job.” A man stepped up beside Daniel, aiming a gun at Jack. “You. Don’t come any closer, or there will be very unfortunate consequences for your friend.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Jack couldn’t grab his own gun now, and he was facing away from the others. Couldn’t see if they’d managed to get their weapons. He could only see Daniel bleeding all over the floor. “Who are you? What the hell did you do to Daniel?”
“Just used a little device of my own invention.” The guy smiled and patted Daniel on the shoulder. Daniel’s expression had gone back to a vacant smile. He still clutched the bloody knife. “He’s fully under my control. As you just saw, I can make him do anything.”
“Why are you doing this?” Carter asked from just behind Jack.
Teal’c stood slowly, barely visibly out of the corner of Jack’s eye. Did he have his staff weapon? “I believe this man is a bounty hunter. I recognize him from my time as First Prime of Apophis.”
“Ah, the Jaffa is smart! Yes, I’m a bounty hunter. I’d prefer to bring you in alive, as it pays better, but dead is also an option.” The man smiled. “Your friend is completely within my control. Drop your weapons, or I’ll give you another demonstration.”
Jack took a deep breath, steadying himself. “Daniel, you’ve gotta fight this. Come on, break through it. Daniel!”
Forced smile trembling, Daniel raised the knife again. “I have to show you he’s right. It’s okay.”
He swung the knife down and plunged it into his stomach. Carter cried out, and Jack swore violently. “What, you’re just gonna make him keep hurting himself? How is that supposed to persuade us to do anything you want?”
“Because you don’t want him to die.” The bounty hunter patted Daniel on the shoulder again. Daniel’s legs buckled, and his face wrenched with pain. “How much blood do you think he can lose?”
“He’s not gonna be any better off if I let you hand him over to be tortured by the Goa’uld.” Jack’s stomach twisted, but there was no way he could hand his team over. It wouldn’t save Daniel. “Look, are you in this for money? We can give you money. Or stuff. Or whatever. Just… stop hurting Daniel.”
“Drop your weapons.”
“I can’t do that.”
The bounty hunter sighed and glanced at Daniel. Daniel immediately stabbed himself again.
This time, though, he screamed as the blade sunk in. Then he looked up, making eye contact with Jack across the room. “Jack, run! Get out of here!”
“Resilient little bastard. Dead it is, then.” The bounty hunter punched Daniel hard in the side, then did something on a handheld device.
Daniel screamed again and grabbed at his head with both hands. The knife slashed his shoulder and cheek. He crumpled to the floor, convulsing, and then went limp.
The bounty hunter laughed.
Something snapped inside Jack. He sprinted across the room and crashed into the bounty hunter. They slammed to the floor, and Jack wrestled with him for the gun.
It went off once, and bits of the ceiling rained down. Jack knocked the gun out of the guy’s hand, then punched him as hard as possible. The bounty hunter slumped back.
His gun spun off across the floor and bumped into Daniel’s arm. Daniel’s eyes flicked open, and he stirred.
“Daniel?” Jack froze, arm still drawn back to deliver another punch. “Hey. Hey, just lie still.”
“Don’t worry, Jack. It’s okay.” Smiling, Daniel picked up the gun and aimed it at his head.
Wordless cry escaping, Jack lunged. He crashed into Daniel and shoved his arm. The gun went off, and blood spattered the ground.
“Daniel! Daniel!” Jack struck the gun out of his hand and scooped him up. Daniel moaned and struggled, but at least the bullet had only grazed his forehead. He was alive. “Hey, easy. Easy. Just hold still.”
“I have to… I have to obey.” Whimpering, Daniel fumbled across the floor for the gun. Jack kicked it farther away. “I have to obey, I have to, I…”
He screamed, body jerking in Jack’s arms. Jack held onto him tighter and twisted around to see Carter and Teal’c sprinting towards the bounty hunter, who had just scrambled upright with a knife in his hand. “Get that device thingy from that guy!”
Teal’c aimed his staff weapon at the bounty hunter and fired. The guy’s body crashed into the wall.
“On it, sir!” Carter was at the body in seconds, prying the device out of his grasp.
Daniel’s screams jumped in pitch, his eyes wild. He clawed at his bleeding head, tears running down his cheek. “Jack, it hurts! I have to obey, I… Help me! Jack, help me, help—”
His eyes rolled back, and every muscle in his body stiffened. Convulsions crashed through him, brutal wrenching jerks of his limbs. Blood trickled across his lips.
“Carter, he’s having some kind of seizure!” Which meant that Jack shouldn’t be restraining him, but he wasn’t gonna risk laying him down on the marble. Last thing Daniel needed was a head injury. “You’ve gotta turn that off, now.”
“I did, sir.” Carter scrambled over, holding out the device. “I already turned the dial down, but I don’t know how to—”
Jack cradled Daniel’s head to his shoulder, his own breath catching at Daniel’s strangled wheezes. “Well, do something else!”
“We must destroy it.” Teal’c bent down, plucked the doodad out of Carter’s hand, and crushed it in his fist.
Daniel gurgled and went limp, suddenly dead weight in Jack’s arms. Jack cupped his cheek, stroking his thumb across the clammy skin. “Daniel. Daniel.”
He couldn’t stop shaking, his own breath ragged. Daniel wasn’t moving. Was he even breathing?
“We gotta…” Jack’s stomach lurched, and he took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself. He looked up and groaned at the sight of multiple people running through the hall. “Okay. Someone—Carter—go tell those people to stay back. I don’t want anyone else firing off weapons. Teal’c, head to the gate and get a med team here.”
His team obeyed, and Jack fumbled at Daniel’s neck. Still a pulse, weak and thready. And Daniel was breathing, just not very much.
“Dammit, Daniel. Why’d you have to wander off?” Keeping Daniel cradled across his lap, Jack struggled out of his jacket. He wadded it up and pressed it to the gushing stomach wounds. “Oh, crap. You are losing way too much blood.”
Jack closed his eyes for a second, trying to think. The image of Daniel with a gun to his head flooded his mind, and he opened his eyes again. Nope. Not thinking about that.
“Hey. Hey, Daniel.” Jack hugged the limp body closer to his chest, shivering. He had to try to keep Daniel warm until they got him back to Earth. Would have to get blankets on him as soon as the team got here. Or as soon as Sam got back. “You gotta hold on, okay? Just hold on. That’s an order.”
---
Teal’c sprinted through the hallway, past the high columns, and down the white stairs. He ignored all calls from the human inhabitants. There was no time for any delay. Major Carter would have to explain what had happened to the humans.
He soon reached the chappa'ai, which sat at a short distance from the city, and dialed the appropriate address. He entered SG-1’s code into his GDO, and then waited briefly before plunging in.
“General Hammond,” he said almost as soon as he exited the wormhole. “We have a medical emergency. Daniel Jackson has been gravely wounded.”
“You heard him, people! Medical team to the gate room.” Hammond jerked his chin towards the appropriate personnel, then gave Teal’c a questioning look. “What happened? Has there been a Goa’uld attack?”
“There was an attack by a single individual. A bounty hunter who has worked for Apophis in the past.” Unusually unsteady, Teal’c folded his hands behind his back to conceal the trembling. “I regret that I was in a state of Kelno’reem when he attacked. I did not protect Daniel Jackson as I should have.”
“This bounty hunter hurt Dr. Jackson?”
“I believe he used this device to control Daniel Jackson’s mind and body, and forced him to harm himself.” Teal’c held out the shattered device, and General Hammond took it with a bemused look. “It should be immediately studied. Daniel Jackson experienced a seizure as a result of its use, and I fear it has harmed him greatly.”
“Thank you, Teal’c. I’ll pass this on to the science team.” General Hammond stepped back as Dr. Frasier and a medical team ran into the gate room. “Brief Dr. Frasier on Dr. Jackson’s condition on your way back.”
As General Hammond gave orders to dial the planet again, Teal’c turned to the medical team. “Daniel Jackson has lost a great deal of blood as a result of multiple cuts, stab wounds, and a possible graze from a bullet. He also experienced a seizure as a result of unknown technology, and was unconscious when Colonel O’Neill ordered me to return to the SGC.”
“Oh my god.” Dr. Frasier waved her team forward as the chappa'ai activated again. “Where’s the possible bullet wound?”
“Possibly his head. I do not know if he was hit. Colonel O’Neill intervened when he attempted to fire on himself.”
“That wasn’t the cause of the seizure?”
“No. The seizure started when he resisted the mind control, and stopped when I shattered the device that had been used to control him.”
As they returned to the planet, Teal’c shivered. What condition might Daniel Jackson be in by the time the medical team reached him?
---
“Thank you for your concern, but we just need everyone to stay out of his area for now,” Sam said again. It was no wonder the inhabitants were so freaked out. “We’ll let you know if there’s anything you can do.”
Yosef, the man who Daniel had spent so much time with earlier, inclined his head. “Thank you, Major Carter. Do you think Daniel would permit us to pray for him?”
Even as terrified as she was, Sam managed a smile at that. “I’m sure Daniel would be very grateful. Thank you.”
She rushed back down the hallway, blinking away tears. Jack was still on the floor, Daniel cradled to his chest. He stared down at Daniel’s still face with a horrible, shell shocked expression.
“Colonel?” Sam knelt down and touched Jack’s arm. He startled and looked to her with total confusion. “How’s Daniel?”
“He’s been better.” Jack was shaking, but he held steady pressure on the stab wounds, stemming the bleeding with his jacket. “His arm. I can’t get any pressure on it. And he’s going cold.”
Sam ran into the room where they’d slept and grabbed blankets off the couches, along with her pack. She rushed back and spread two of the blankets across Daniel, then put the third around Jack’s shoulders. He didn’t seem to notice.
She pulled out her medical kit and bandages, and applied pressure to the vicious gashes in Daniel’s arm. She almost started to speculate about how the device could have controlled him so thoroughly, then looked at Jack’s face and closed her mouth.
Shaken, she stroked Daniel’s bloody hair off his brow. There was a deep gash carving through the right side of his forehead. Maybe where the bullet had skimmed.
The memory made her nauseous, and she struggled against rising tears. Gently, she stroked Daniel’s hair again, searching his face.
“He’s so still.” The words slipped out, along with a few tears. “Oh god, it’s so scary to see him this still. He was so animated all day, so excited about getting to know these people…”
“He‘ll be fine.” Jack’s voice trembled as much as she had ever heard. He looked on the verge of passing out. “He’s a tough kid. He’ll be fine.”
It was hard to believe that right now, looking at him. But Sam nodded, forcing herself to be positive. “Of course he will, sir.”
The medical team rushed in shortly after that, Janet and her nurses charging up with Teal’c following. Sam immediately moved out of the way, but Jack didn’t. He just held onto Daniel, staring at him with something like despair.
“Colonel O’Neill.” Janet touched his shoulder, and he startled in the same way he had when Sam touched him. “I need you to let us take Daniel, okay? Let go.”
“Right. Sorry.” Jack let go, although he gritted his teeth hard. He wasn’t happy about it. “Take care of him, Doc.”
He shoved to his feet, and Sam rose too. Teal’c bent, picking up the fallen weapons.
Jack stood there for a minute, glaring at the bounty hunter’s body. Then, with a howl of fury, he kicked the corpse in the head. He kicked it twice more, then went ashen, slid down the wall, and buried his face in his hands.
“Sir?” Heart racing, Sam crouched back down. Blood ran down Jack’s side, dripping to the floor. “You’re hurt too. You should have the med team take a look at you.”
“It’s not that bad.” Jack raised his head, tears on his cheeks. He looked at the bounty hunter, then kicked the body again. Sam winced. “That bastard’s dead, right?”
“He is deceased, O’Neill.” Teal’c straightened up with all the weapons held carefully. “Although I admit I wish I had killed him in a more painful fashion.”
“Yeah.” Jack ground his teeth and delivered one more kick, then went back to staring at Daniel’s still form. “Me too.”
Sam swallowed hard and headed back into the room to pack her gear. As tempting as it was to fantasize about hurting the man who had done this to Daniel, she needed to get back to the SGC. Someone had to study that mind control device and try to figure out if it had done any permanent damage.