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CHAPTER TWO

"It's getting hard to breathe," Daniel said quietly.

Sam wiped the sweat from her brow and nodded.  "Yeah."  The air had already been getting a little low even before the cave-in.  She could only assume that the life support systems were down.  Now, they were trapped in this small section of tunnel and running out of oxygen even more quickly.

She kept working on the pile, it getting progressively more difficult as the air got thinner and thinner.  She was starting to get dizzy and light-headed.  She looked over at Daniel frequently.  His eyes were closed, only the rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to bring in enough air telling her that he was still alive.

"Carter.  Carter, if you hear me, respond."

The sound of Jack's voice over the radio filled Sam with relief.  She reached for her radio.

"Sir, we're here.  The tunnel collapsed.  We're trapped."

"Yeah, we noticed that.  Jacob is going to use one of these crystal thingies to make a new tunnel into there.  Move away from the entrance as far as you can."

Sam scrambled off the rubble and went to Daniel, crouching beside him.

"We're ready, sir," she told her C.O.

Seconds later, she heard the sound of a tunnel being "grown", then an opening appeared.

Jacob, Jack and Teal'c hurried in.

"How's Daniel?" the colonel asked.

The archeologist's eyes fluttered open.  "Still here."

"Glad to hear it.  Come on.  Let's get out of here."

"Did you find a Tok'ra communicator?" Sam asked.

"No, we didn't have time to look," Jack replied.

"Many Jaffa troops search the tunnels," Teal'c told her.  "They will be here soon."

Sam got to her feet.  "Are we going to be able to make it to the ship?"

"Um . . . no," Jack answered.  "It was getting too hot up there.  They were in danger of being discovered, so I told them to go."

Sam did not respond, knowing that, without that ship, the chances of any of them getting out of this had plummeted.

Jacob used another crystal, and a long tunnel formed before them.

"We should seal the tunnel behind us," Daniel said.

Jack nodded.  "Good idea.  Might as well make it as tough as possible for those Jaffa to find us."

With Jacob again supporting the archeologist, they headed down the tunnel.  Teal'c aimed his staff weapon toward the ceiling and fired, causing it to collapse behind them.

As they walked, they checked on the situation with their supplies.  Though they had enough food rations to last for a couple of days, water was another matter.  They were running seriously low.

Daniel was hit with another bout of coughing, almost bringing him to his knees.  Afterwards, he tried to hide the blood that was on the hand he'd covered his mouth with, but Jack saw it anyway.  The eyes of the two men met for a long moment.  Then Jack opened his canteen and held it out to Daniel.

The archeologist shook his head.  "No.  Save it for you guys."

The others all shared a look.

"Daniel, you need it more than we do," Jack responded.  "We'll be fine."

"Jack, there's no sense in—"

"Daniel, so help me, if you say something stupid, like there's no sense in wasting water on somebody who's going to die anyway, as soon as we get back home and you're all healed up, I am going to sock you one.  Now, take the damn water."

Brown eyes glared into blue ones for a tense moment longer, then Daniel sighed, too tired to argue.  With a hand that shook so badly that Jack had to steady the canteen, he took a couple of swallows.

They continued down the tunnel.

"How many more of those crystal things do we have?" Jack asked Jacob.

"Six."

"We can't stay down here forever," Sam said.  "Even if we weren't low on water, we'd eventually run out of air.  I think the life support system is down."

"The Jaffa will not rest until they have found us," Teal'c declared.

Jack glanced at him.  "Why do you say that?"

"If their intent was simply to kill the Tok'ra, they have weapons that could have destroyed this facility from space.  Their attack using ground troops suggests they are looking for something."

"The poison," Sam guessed.

Jacob nodded.  "That's my guess.  That poison in the hands of one of the Goa'uld would be a deadly weapon.  They could use it against the other Goa'uld."

"We can't let them have it," Daniel stated.  "If we can't escape, we'll have to destroy the crystal that contains the formula."

"Come on.  They've got to stop looking for us eventually," Jack said.

"Even if they do stop searching, they will never leave the Stargate unguarded," Teal'c responded.

"Is there some chance that a Tok'ra returning from a mission will show up?" Sam asked.

Jacob shook his head.  "An automatic alert is most likely being broadcast now, warning the Tok'ra to stay away.  Any Tok'ra coming in will assume that everyone here is dead.  Even if they did take a chance and decided to look for survivors, we have no way to contact them."

They kept walking.  With every step, it got harder for Daniel to put one foot in front of the other.  He was in a constant state of agony, his vision beginning to grey out.  Jacob was having to support progressively more of his weight.  Finally, his legs gave out completely.  Jacob held on tightly, Jack leaping forward to grasp Daniel.

"Let's lay him down," the colonel said.

They laid Daniel on the floor, putting Sam's vest under his head.  They didn't have to express their concern for him to each other.  They could see it in each other's eyes.

"We need to let him rest for a bit," Jack said.  "Teal'c and I will check back along the tunnel and make sure we don't have Jaffa on our tails."

The two men headed off.  Jacob turned to his daughter and watched as she wiped the perspiration from Daniel's brow, anguish on her face.  She looked up at him, and he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

"Dad," she whispered.

He laid a hand on her arm.  "Shh.  He's strong, Sam.  Lantash is, too."

Sam returned her eyes to Daniel.  She gently stroked his cheek.  She was trying so hard to cling to the hope inside her, but, now that the Tel'tak was gone, what chance was there that Daniel could survive long enough for them to get him some help?

Watching his daughter, Jacob felt the weight of guilt settle upon him.  If he and the other Tok'ra hadn't asked Daniel to go on that mission, the archeologist, Sam, Jack and Teal'c would all be safe on Earth.  What made it even worse was that it had been for nothing.  They didn't even get to the summit.  Daniel was very likely going to die, and it would be for nothing.  Sam might die as well, along with Jack and Teal'c.

When Jack and Teal'c returned, they announced that they'd seen no sign of any pursuit.

"We haven't heard bombers in a while," Jack said.  "Let's try the surface.  Will one of those crystals get us up there?"

Jacob nodded and selected one that was diamond-shaped.

Sam had a thought.  "Dad, you said that an alert to warn others away was probably being broadcast."

Jacob nodded.  "The long-range sensors would detect incoming ships and transmit a signal."

"Could we reprogram one to send a distress call instead?"

"Possibly."

"Where are they?" Teal'c asked.

"There's four.  Each of them is twenty-five miles from the gate, due north, south, east and west."

Jack frowned.  "I figure we're three miles from the gate."

"Give or take," Sam said.  "Bur, sir, this might be our only chance to get out of here."

"Twenty-two miles."  Jack's eyes went to Daniel.  Sam didn't have to ask what he was thinking.  Was there any hope that Daniel would survive the trip?

Jacob planted the crystal in one of the walls.  Another tunnel began to form, heading upward at a slight angle toward the surface.

Sam leaned over Daniel and grasped his shoulder.  "Daniel?"

The archeologist opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Hey," she said, smiling down at him.  "We're getting out of these tunnels."

"That's good.  I was beginning to get bored with the scenery."

It was Teal'c who supported Daniel as they made their way to the surface.  He could feel the tremors in his teammate's body, see pain on the man's white face.  During his many years, he had seen many grievously injured men, men who were close to death.  Teal'c knew that there was very little chance that Daniel would survive for much longer, but he would not give up hope yet, even if he had to carry his friend in his arms the entire way.

The air smelled fresh and sweet as they stepped out into the sunlight.  They put a little distance between them and the exit, then Jack suggested that they make a litter for Daniel.  He and Teal'c went off to search for suitable branches.  As soon as they got back, Sam left to go get some water.

Jack and Teal'c were working on the litter and discussing the situation they were in when she returned.

"There are gliders patrolling the area," Teal'c stated.

"I figure we got twenty, twenty-five miles to go in that direction," Jack said, gesturing up the path they were presently on.

Sam went to Daniel to give him some water.  "With this terrain, I figure we can make a mile every fifteen minutes," she said.  "That should hopefully put us at the sensors in under nine hours."

"We'll only have an hour or so of daylight by then," Jacob said.

Once the litter was finished, Jack and Teal'c brought it over.  The colonel knelt beside the archeologist.

"Come on, Daniel.  Let's get you up on this litter."

Daniel's eyes opened.  His head shook slightly.  "No.  You have to go without me."

"No way, Daniel," Jack responded firmly.  "We are not leaving you behind.  You're coming with us."

"Jack."  Daniel caught the man's gaze.  "I'm dying."

Pain flared inside the eyes of Jack and Sam, Sam's head shaking in denial.

"Lantash has been trying to heal me," Daniel told them, "but he's losing ground.  He's dying, too.  He can't save me, but we can both save all of you."

"Daniel, what are you saying?" Sam asked, her voice trembling.

"Jacob gives me the container with the symbiote poison.  I'll wait here for the Jaffa and tell them that I know the formula for the poison, offer to trade it for my life.  They'll take me to the gate.  Once I'm down there, I'll use the poison.  It'll kill all the Jaffa, and you can then get to the gate."

"But it will kill Lantash, too," Sam said in an anguished voice, trying very hard not to cry.  They couldn't do this.  They couldn't just leave Daniel behind to die.

"I know, Sam.  And when it does, I'll die with him.  From what your dad told me, it'll be quick."

Sam couldn't hold onto her tears anymore.  She grasped Daniel's hand, letting them fall.

"Daniel, there has to be something else we can do," Jack said, refusing to admit that there was nothing they could do to save Daniel and all get out of there.

The archeologist gazed at him.  "Please, Jack.  This is the only way.  You know that if you were in my place, you'd do the same thing."  He gasped as pain from his injuries stabbed through his body.  "You have to hurry, before it's too late.  Please let me do this.  Please give me the chance to save you."

The eyes of the two men met for a long moment.  In the colonel's eyes, Daniel saw Jack raging against the cruel truth of his words.  Moments later, he saw the anguished acceptance in the brown depths.

Jack's hand came out, and, as he did on that day he had to leave a wounded Daniel behind on Apophis' ship, he cupped the archeologist's cheek.  Silent words passed between them, an affirmation of the friendship that Daniel had begun to think was dying.  He gave Jack the tiniest of smiles, letting the man know that he felt the same way.

Jack abruptly got up and walked away several yards, his back stiff and straight, his hands clenched into fists.

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said, his dark eyes even darker with sorrow.  "In these years that we have fought together, you have become one of my greatest friends.  I did not think that such a thing could be.  My sins against you and your wife were grievous, yet you forgave me and gave me your friendship.  I will remember and cherish that friendship until my dying day."

Daniel blinked back his tears.  "Thank you, Teal'c.  Your friendship has meant a lot to me, too, more than I ever thought it could."

He looked up at Jacob, seeing sorrow on the man's face, as well as guilt.  "Don't blame yourself for this, Jacob.  It's not your fault."

"Isn't it?  If the Tok'ra hadn't brought you into this—"

"I could have said no," Daniel interrupted.  "You didn't force me.  I made the decision on my own."

Wishing that there was some other way out of this, Jacob knelt beside Daniel and placed the poison in his hand.  The Tok'ra clasped the archeologist's hand for a few seconds as their eyes met.  Then he got to his feet.

Daniel's gaze at last came to rest upon the last member of his team.  "Sam."

"I can't do this, Daniel," she whispered, crying even harder.  "I can't just leave you like this."

"You have to, Sam.  It makes no sense for all of us to die.  And what if they didn't kill you?  What if they captured you?  I can't even think about what they'd do to you guys."

Daniel looked up at Jacob and Teal'c.  "I'd like to talk to Sam alone."

The two men walked away to join Jack.  Daniel turned back to Sam.

"Lantash is happy now, Sam," he said in a low voice so that only she would hear.  "He's glad that you know how he feels about you and that you're going to make it out of this all right."  Daniel searched her face.  "I'm glad that I got the chance to know you, Sam.  You're one of the best friends I've ever had."

Sam was almost sobbing now.  Oh, God.  This hurt too much.  "I feel the same way, Daniel.  You have come to mean so much to me.  You're my best friend."

Daniel gave her a gentle smile and lightly squeezed the hand that still held his.  He could feel himself weakening, and he knew that he didn't have much time.  He could also sense that Lantash was close to death.

"You have to go now, Sam.  I don't think I have much time left.  Neither does Lantash."

Feeling like her heart was breaking, Sam leaned forward and placed a long kiss on Daniel's forehead.  Then she got up and hurried away, control of her emotions shattering.

The others turned back to Daniel, none of them wanting to leave.

"Get out of here," he told them.  "Go hide.  Please.  Before it's too late."

With a final long look, they turned away one at a time, Jack being the last.

"You've been a good friend, Daniel," he said.  Then he turned and walked away, feeling like he was leaving behind a part of himself.  He joined the others, and they hurried into the woods.  They knew that they needed to put as much distance as possible between them and the Jaffa.  There was a low ridge nearby.  If they climbed it, they'd be able to see what was going on with the Jaffa below.  They'd know when Daniel had released the poison.

They'd know when he was dead.

Guilt and grief burned inside Jack.  He was leaving a teammate behind.  He was leaving his best friend behind.  Four years ago, he'd had no choice but to leave a seriously wounded Daniel on Apophis' ship.  After it was all over and they were all safe and sound, Jack swore that he'd never again leave a teammate behind.  He hated himself for breaking that oath, for once again leaving Daniel to die in the midst of the enemy.

No words were spoken by the four people as they made their way to the ridge.  They climbed it as quickly as possible, then turned and looked down into the valley.  They could barely make out the army of Jaffa far below.  Jack wished that he had his binoculars.  On second thought, he didn't think he wanted a closer look at what was about to happen.

They'd been there for perhaps fifteen minutes when all movement among the Jaffa ceased.  They all knew what that meant.

"It is done," said the voice of Selmak.

Grief welled up inside Sam, a choked sob breaking free.  He was dead.  Daniel was dead.  She was never going to see him again.

Jacob spoke again, this time in his own voice.  "We need to get to the Stargate before the Goa'uld leading this attack finds out that something's wrong and sends more troops down."

He looked over at his daughter, seeing the overwhelming grief there.  He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but it would have to wait.  Later, when they were back on Earth, he would hold his daughter tight as she cried the many tears he knew would come.  She would not grieve alone.  He would grieve with her for the man that he had come to care about and admire.

They carefully descended the ridge, keeping an eye out for any surviving Jaffa.  Once they were back on more level ground, they increased their pace.  Teal'c jogged steadily, pushing from his mind everything but the goal of reaching the gate.  It would not be until he was in the privacy of his quarters that he would allow himself to grieve for the loss of one of the greatest friends he'd ever known.  Until then, he would focus on doing all that needed to be done to see that he, his remaining teammates and Jacob made it to safety, the lives that Daniel Jackson died to save.

It wasn't until they reached the valley floor that the enormity of what had been done hit all of them.  Thousands of Jaffa lay dead for as far as they could see, apparently having dropped right in their tracks.  Teal'c chose not to think too long on the deaths of so many of his people.  He could only hope that some here had not been men who longed for freedom and could have been allies.

"We need to look for Daniel," Jack said, his words the first ones spoken since they left the ridge.

"Jack, there's no time," Jacob said.  "It isn't going to take long for someone to find out that something's wrong."

Jack turned to him, his eyes almost black with grief.  "I don't care, Jacob."  His voice cracked slightly.  "I am not leaving without him."

Knowing that Jack would not see reason, Jacob sighed and nodded.

They split into two teams – Jack and Sam in one, Teal'c and Jacob in the other – and began the task of searching through the dead.  They all headed roughly in the direction of the base camp near the gate, knowing that's likely where Daniel would have been taken.

Sam wasn't sure if she wanted them to find Daniel.  She didn't know how she was going to be able to bear seeing his lifeless body.  But to leave him behind would be equally unbearable.  Daniel deserved to be brought home, to be buried with full military honors, just as they gave him when they thought he'd burned to death on Oannes.  He deserved so much more than that.  It was so wrong, so horribly wrong that he was dead.

They had not been searching long when Jack stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed up something a few yards away.  Sam followed his gaze, her breath catching painfully in her throat.  Lying so terribly still amidst a group of dead Jaffa was Daniel.  He lay on his side, one of his hands stretched toward them, as if in mute and hopeless supplication.

For several seconds, Jack and Sam just stood there, unable to move.  At last, Jack keyed his radio.

"Teal'c," he said in a voice roughed with emotion.  "We've found him."

There was a long pause, then Teal'c said, "Do you wish my assistance?"

"No, Teal'c.  I've . . . I've got him.  Go on to the gate.  We'll be there in a while."

For both Jack and Sam, the next six yards were among the hardest eighteen feet they'd ever walked.  Jack knelt beside Daniel, suddenly feeling so very old and tired.  He reached down and laid a hand upon his best friend's head.  He did not have to look at Sam to know that she was crying again.

Drawing in a deep, shaky breath, Jack gathered Daniel's limp body into his arms so that he could lift the archeologist over his shoulders.  Daniel's head came to rest on his shoulder, and, for a brief moment, Jack's control wavered and almost broke.

It was in that moment that something utterly unexpected happened.

Jack froze as the tiniest puff of warm air brushed across the skin of his neck.  It was followed by another.  Fearing to hope that what he'd felt was real, Jack stared down at Daniel.  He placed his fingers over the archeologist's carotid artery, certain that he would feel nothing.  He was wrong.

"My God.  He's alive," he whispered.  Then he shouted.  "He's alive!"

Sam's head shot up.  "W-what?  B-but he can't be."

"Oh, yes, he can!  This is Daniel we're talking about."  Jack grabbed his radio.  "Teal'c, Daniel's alive!  Repeat, Daniel is alive!  Dial the gate and tell them to have a medical team standing by in the gate room, then hold the gate open for us."

Fearing that they could make Daniel's internal injuries even worse, Jack and Sam got him onto the colonel's shoulders as carefully as they could.  And then they ran, moving as fast as Jack could go.  It did not take long for him to begin to tire, Daniel's weight dragging him down.  But he did not slow, digging deep into the reserves of his strength.

They were around thirty yards from the gate when they heard the sound of approaching ships.

"Colonel, there are three Al'Kesh and several gliders coming!" Sam cried.

"Damn.  I'd say that the cat's out of the bag!"

Somehow digging up more strength from somewhere, Jack ran faster.  The ships bore down on them, their weapons beginning to fire.  Teal'c was now firing back, the end of his staff weapon flaring over and over again, though he had little hope of actually bringing down any of the ships.  Beside him, Jacob stood with the tip of his zat gun in the wormhole to keep it open.

The ships zipped by overhead, some of their shots coming uncomfortably close.  Then Jack and Sam were at the gate, and they all hurried through.

On the other side, Jack kept running, hurrying down the ramp to the gurney that was waiting for Daniel.  Janet quickly examined the archeologist, it taking her only seconds to see that he was on the edge of death.

In a flurry of movement, the medical team rushed Daniel to the infirmary.  Ordered to stay outside, Jacob and Daniel's teammates waited.  Hammond soon joined them and asked for a preliminary report.  The three members of SG-1 and Jacob briefly filled him in.  When they got to the part where Daniel told them that they had to leave him behind and let him use the symbiote poison, Jack and Sam had a difficult time continuing.

"I didn't want to leave him, General," Jack said.  "I wanted to believe that there was something else we could do.  But Daniel . . . he knew that there wasn't anything else that could be done.  He was dying.  Even if he could have survived the trip to that sensor, our chances of being able to hide from the Jaffa for the time it would have taken for some Tok'ra ship to show up and rescue us would have been remote."

General Hammond sighed.  "I understand how you felt, Jack.  I know how hard it must have been.  But you had to consider the safety of the rest of your team.  You did as Doctor Jackson's told you to?"

"Yes, sir," Sam replied.  "We escaped into the forest and ascended a nearby ridge where we'd be able to keep an eye on the Jaffa.  We were too far away to actually see the poison take effect, but we could see when all the troop movement stopped.  That's when we knew that . . . that Daniel had done it."

"How is it that Doctor Jackson is alive, then?  From what I understand, when a symbiote dies, it releases a poison that kills its host."

"That is true," Jacob said.  "However, a symbiote does have the ability to prevent the poison from being released if it has enough time to do so.  Of course, the Goa'uld don't ever do that, but the Tok'ra do.  Jolinar did it when she died inside Sam.  But I honestly didn't think that Lantash would be able to.  He was so weak.  I can only assume that he used the last of his strength to do it.  He must have believed that Daniel had some small chance of survival."

Just then, Janet came out.  The look on her face made everyone's heart plummet.

"Please don't tell us he's dead," Sam begged.

The doctor sighed.  "No, he's still hanging on, but I don't think it'll be for much longer.  He's suffered massive organ damage, and he's lost a lot of blood from the internal hemorrhaging."

"Can't you fix it?" Jack asked, not wanting to believe that Daniel had managed to survive so much only to die after they'd gotten him home.

"He's far too weak for surgery, sir.  He'd never survive."  Janet's soft brown eyes were full of pain and regret.  "You have no idea how much I wish that there was something I could do to save him, but his injuries are just too severe.  I honestly don't know how it is that he can even still be alive."  She looked at all of them.  "You should go to him now."

Sam's chest tightened, knowing that they'd be going in there to say goodbye.

All at once, a thought struck her like lightning.  "The healing device!" she cried.  She turned to her father.  "We have a Goa'uld healing device!  You can use it to heal him!"

Not waiting for a response, Sam ran off, her heart beating painfully in her chest, full of the fear that Daniel would die before they could use the device.

When she came back with it, her teammates, Janet, Hammond and her father were gathered at Daniel's bedside.  He looked so pale, a man minutes from death.  Sam handed the device to Jacob.  He slipped it on and extended it over Daniel's body.  It began to glow.

The others nearly held their breath as they watched Jacob attempt to heal the archeologist's devastating injuries.  The seconds crawled by, each one feeling longer than the last.  It seemed like a very long time before Jacob's hand lowered.

When he spoke it was with Selmak's voice.  "We have healed his injuries, though he is still quite weak from the loss of blood.  This device can only heal the physical damage and stop the bleeding.  It cannot give back the blood that was lost."

Janet moved closer to Daniel and examined him, her eyes going to the readings on the monitor.

"He appears to have stabilized," she said, "although his blood pressure is still very low.  We'll put him in the ICU and keep a close eye on him."  She looked at the archeologist's teammates.  "You three need to get your post-mission checkups.  You also look like you could use some rest and probably something to eat as well."  Three mouths opened in preparation to say something, but she stopped them with a raised hand.  "No arguing.  If Daniel wakes up, I'll call you."

Daniel's teammates went and got their exams.  Then they showered and changed.  None of them were feeling very hungry, so they did not eat, and, for Jack and Sam, going off to rest was out of the question.

Janet wasn't at all surprised when she went to check on Daniel and found his two human teammates at his side.  Teal'c would have been there as well if he hadn't been in need of Kel'no'reem.

"He's going to be all right," Janet told them.  "We've almost replaced all the blood he lost.  He's not a hundred percent yet, but he is well out of the danger zone."

Sam brushed her fingers through Daniel's hair.  Yet again, they had believed they'd lost him, and, yet again, he'd survived against all odds.

"I performed an MRI," Janet said.  "Daniel's body has already begun absorbing the symbiote."

"So, does this mean that he's going to be like Carter now?" Jack asked.

It was Sam who answered.  "I should imagine so, sir.  There will be Naquadah in his blood, which will enable him to use things like the healing and ribbon devices, and he'll also be able to sense the presence of a Goa'uld."

"Well, I suppose that having another person on my team that can do that will be a good thing, although I'm feeling kind of left out now.  I'm the only one left that can't tell when there's a Goa'uld around."

A sound from Daniel drew the attention of the three people to him, and they watched as his eyes slowly open.  He stared up at the ceiling, his brows knitting in confusion.  Then he saw the people standing at his bedside.

"I'm not dead?" he said, sounding extremely surprised to have discovered that fact.

Jack smiled.  "Not unless we all are, and this is some strange version of the afterlife."

"You were in extremely critical condition, Daniel," Janet told her patient.  "You'd suffered massive organ damage and had lost a great deal of blood."  She gazed at him regretfully.  "There was nothing I could do to save you.  You were too far gone for surgery."

"So I'm alive because. . . ."

"Dad used the healing device on you," Sam explained.

Janet gave him a smile.  "You're still a bit weak from the loss of blood, but we're taking care of that.  You're going to be just fine."

Daniel's eyes moved away from them, his gaze turning inward.  "Lantash is dead," he said after a short moment.

Sam's hand came to rest on his shoulder.  "We think that he managed to keep himself from releasing the toxin when he died."

"I did release the poison, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did it, Daniel," Jack replied.  "We wouldn't have gotten out of there if you hadn't."

"By the time they got me down to the ships, I was so far gone that I was afraid I wouldn't have the strength to do it.  I kept drifting in and out of consciousness.  The Jaffas' rough handling didn't help much either."

Jack's jaw tightened with anger.  He let the anger fade away.  The Jaffa were dead.  None of them were left to be a target for his anger.

Daniel sighed.  "I wish there could have been another way.  When I think about all those Jaffa—"

"Don't, Daniel," Jack interrupted.  "They were there to hunt down any surviving Tok'ra.  You can't feel sorry for them."

The archeologist nodded, though he still felt bad.  "Where's Teal'c?"

"He needed to Kel'no'reem.  Do you want me to call him?"

"No, that's okay.  I'll see him later."  Daniel turned to Janet.  "When can I get out of here?"

"When I say so.  We're almost done with the transfusion.  Once that's complete, and I'm sure you're all right, then you can go."

Just then, Jacob came in.  He smiled upon seeing that Daniel was awake.

"Hey, Danny.  How are you feeling?"

"Good.  I understand that I have you to thank for that."

The Tok'ra shook his head.  "I just healed your injuries.  You have Jack to thank for refusing to leave that planet without you."

Daniel's eyes went to the colonel.  Jack met his gaze square on.

"We weren't going to leave you behind," the grey-haired man said simply.

Jacob came up to the bed, studying Daniel closely.  "Are you doing all right?" he asked in a different way.  Daniel knew what he was asking.

"Yeah.  It's strange, though.  Lantash was inside me for only a few hours, yet, now that he's gone, it feels like something's missing."  He frowned.  "That's weird.  I think I can feel Selmak."  He looked at Sam.  "I guess this must be like what you feel."

She nodded.  "You'll get used to it."

The archeologist's gaze went to Jack.  "Is SG-17 back yet?"

"Nope, we beat them home.  Are they gonna be surprised when they find out we're here."

"Do you know how many Tok'ra made it out?"

Jacob answered.  "Not yet.  However may it was, it's more than what would have survived if the attack had come after you and I left for the mission.  Without that ship being available, it's likely that most if not all of the Tok'ra would have died in the base."

"But we lost our chance to kill the System Lords," Sam said.

"True," Jack responded.  He looked down at Daniel.  "But you know what?  Right now, I really don't care all that much.  What matters most at this moment is that we all made it out alive."

Sam nodded.  She couldn't agree more.  She gazed down at Daniel and saw that he looked tired.

"We'll let you get some rest," she said.

"Are we going to have the debriefing tonight?" he asked.  "Um . . . is it night?"

"Yes, it's night, Daniel," Jack replied, "just after six, to be precise.  And, yes, we're going to have the debriefing tonight, as soon as Fraiser cuts you loose."

Everyone cleared out of the room.  Daniel laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes.  Though he knew that Lantash was gone, for some strange reason, it felt like the symbiote was still within him in a way.  Daniel had always believed that being blended with a Tok'ra was something he'd never want to do, yet that short time that he'd shared his body with Lantash had given him a different perspective.  But then, Lantash was not like so many of the other Tok'ra.  He had respected the fact that his host had a far greater right to control of the body than he did and quite often remained the observer rather than the one in control.  Virtually every Tok'ra they'd ever known had almost always had the symbiote in control most of the time.  Selmak was one of the only other exceptions.

If Lantash had survived, would Daniel have agreed to remain his host?  Probably not, especially since it would likely have meant that he'd have had to join the Tok'ra.  That was something he would not have been willing to do.

But it didn't matter now.  Lantash was gone.  But he had left behind a legacy, both within Daniel's body and in his memories, so, in a way, a part of him would live on for as long as Daniel did.

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