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Sacrifice & Reward
by
William S. Moore

Chapter Twenty-Three

The three women walked with determination, but they each had their own doubts as to if they would succeed in freeing Daniel of his imprisonment. They each knew that he could be just as stubborn and he was compassionate, which is one of the things that they loved about him so much.

The close to the place they were told Daniel waited, the colder and stronger the winds became. When they were only a few hundred yards out, the rains started coming down on them with such force that it stung exposed flesh. Quickly yanking their hoods over their head, the ladies released the hold on one another and tucked their hands into their sleeves. Continuing on into the raging storm, the three women now resembled monks of some unknown order.

Slipping in the mud that was forming at their feet, the ladies found them selves grabbing for one another to keep from falling. On several occasions, even that was not enough. By the time they all reached the first branches of the darkened forest, they were all soaked, shivering from the cold, and covered in mud.

“Remind me to kick Daniel’s ass for doing this to us.” Sam remarked.

“I do not believe that Daniel would do this on purpose, Samantha. This is probably just his minds way of keeping everything at bay.” Anise replied.

“If this is even a glimpse at the prison he has put himself in, I shudder to think what we will find at the center of that forest.” Freya stated pointing into the forest.

Looking deep into the woods, the three women could not hold back the involuntary shiver that ran down their spine.

“This is almost like a storm we ran into on one of our missions.” Sam said thinking. “Every one of us, except Teal’c, ended up with the flu before even a day was up. I never envied having a symbiote as much as I did of Teal’c on that trip.”

“It does have its advantages.” Freya said with a smile towards Anise.

“If it is too cold, it even affects us though.” Anise said. “We are just as susceptible to illness, we just have better control to fight it off.”

“I always thought that you were all immune to common illnesses Anise.” Sam spoke.

“No, far from it. We just have the ability to manipulate our systems, and yours, to fight it off more efficiently than letting nature take its course.” Anise replied frankly.

“Wow. So you are saying that prolonged exposure to an illness can infect you as well?” Samantha asked Anise.

“Yes, but we rarely let ourselves or our host stay in such a situation for long if we can help it.” Anise said with a bit of a grimace.

“Are we going to stand here and chat all day, or are we going to get under the canopy of the forest and out of this rain and wind?” Freya shouted with her hands on her hips.

Laughing at the way Freya looked with her hands on her hips; wearing a soaked and mud plastered robe, Anise and Sam started laughing.

“You should see the way you look standing there.” Sam guffawed. “I never would have thought to see you looking so, Freya.”

“Well, I don’t care. I am getting out of this wind and rain.” Freya practically screamed. “You two stand there talking all you want.”

Anise and Sam watched as there companion stomped off into the woods.

“Wait up, we are coming Freya.” Anise called after her life-mate.

“Yeah, we are right behind you.” Sam called after the other two.

“Humph!” was the only response either of them got from the figure of Freya ahead of them.

When Freya stopped after traveling several yards into the canopy, the other two finally caught up with her. Approaching her with care, Anise and Sam wrapped their arms around Freya and pulled her into a deep hug.

“We are sorry my beloved. We did not mean to make you angry.” Anise said apologetically.

“Yes, we both are sorry for upsetting you.” Sam echoed.

“You better be, or I will leave you to find your own way through this forest.” Freya said pouting.

All three women continued to hug one another for several minutes longer, not so much for the comfort…but the warmth.

“We had better get moving before something finds us in here, something that is not friendly.” Sam stated.

“I wonder how far the forest stretches beyond the border we only just crossed.” Anise pondered out loud.

“No telling, but it this is part of Daniel’s mind and his “guilt”…then it could stretch on for quite some distance.” Sam replied.

“I guess we are lucky it is only a forest, Daniel could have thought up some dust filled library for us to wonder around in.” Freya said with a giggle.

“You have been hanging out with Colonel O’Neill too much.” Sam replied, giggling herself.

“And what is wrong with a library full of books?” Anise asked a little perturbed

“Oh nothing, if you are into old and musky.” Freya said sticking her tongue out at Anise.

“You never seemed to mind when we were one body.” Anise shot at Freya.

“That is because you were so wrapped up in them that you never noticed I went to sleep!” Freya feigned innocently.

“You two sound like an old married couple.” Samantha said looking from one to the other.

All three women looked at one another few a brief second before they fell down laughing. There laughing fit would only subside long enough for them to look at one another and then it began all over again. This went on for what seemed an eternity to the three of them, but eventually the laughter stopped as they caught their breath.

“What was that about?” Sam questioned the other two. “I haven’t laughed like that in more than 6 months. Not since before Janet…”

Sam did not get a chance to finish the sentence when a lightning bolt pierced the air and struck only a few feet from them.

“Holy Hannah!” Sam yipped scrambling away from where she had been laying. “What the hell!”

“I think Daniel’s mind heard what you were saying and struck at the thought.” Anise commented in a whisper.

“Why would his mind respond with such viciousness?” Freya asked in a whisper.

“Because…Daniel and Janet were involved when she was killed. They had only been seeing each other a short time.” Sam whispered back to the other two.

“For his mind to react that way, the pain and guilt must be great.” Anise replied.

“Yeah, we thought he was just going to give up and die on the spot, but …” Sam paused as her mind clicked, “that is it…that is why he used his life energy…he was trying to give up living.”

“You mean he used his own energy so that he could join her?” Freya asked stunned.

“No, Daniel was tired of losing everyone he cared for. He probably figured that saving the rest of us and giving up at the same time would stop any more of us from getting hurt because of him.” Sam replied with realization.

“I have heard of this kind of thing before, but never to have been so close to someone that has done so.” Anise stated.

“This is just like Daniel.” Sam said. “He loves, hates, and commits self guilt with all of his being.”

“If this is the case, then it is not going to be easy to bring him around from his current frame of mind.” Anise surmised.

“No, it is going to be like pulling teeth.” Sam sighed.

“Then the quicker we get there, the more time we will have to deal with his being such a mule.” Freya stated with conviction as she turned and continued walking south.

Nodding in agreement, Anise and Samantha hastened to catch up with Freya.

End Chapter Twenty-Three of
Sacrifice & Reward
by Will
Go To
Chapter Twenty-Four

This story along with all original characters and situations were created for entertainment purposes only. All stories remain the property of their respective authors and have been donated to the Daniel Jackson Library by Will and may not be transferred outside of this URL without his consent.