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Sacrifice & Reward
by
William S. Moore

Chapter Twenty-Five

Unsure of what else to do, Sam, Freya, and Anise stayed out of the way of the flying whip and chains. Every time one or the other connected a hit, a deep gash appeared across the recipient. They all three watched in horror as Daniel was literally trying to kill Daniel. The battle waged on an on with the Evil Daniel taunting the Good Daniel in an attempt to break his will, while the Good Daniel only struck back with as much force as he could…letting that speak for him instead.

Holding her slashed palms to her chest, Freya only cried, she had never felt so helpless. Anise kept pressure on Freya’s palms to staunch the blood flow; flinching each time she heard the whistle of the whip and the impact of the chains. Sam kept reflexively reaching for her sidearm, which was not there, and aching to jump in…but knowing that this was a battle only Daniel, the Good Daniel, could fight.

Dr. Warner was beyond agitated as every time he got a wound covered, another appeared. It was as if some invisible force was at work in the room, making Guerrilla warfare attacks on Daniel’s body. He had already cut the hospital gown off of Daniel and was still in the process of placing gauze bandages on each and every wound that appeared. Already, he knew that several of them were going to need staples while others would require stitches. From what he had seen of the gashes across Daniel’s eyes, those he knew were gone.

Jack O’Neill came barreling into the room after one of the nurses had contacted him and woken him. He came to a skidding halt when he saw that Daniel was covered from head to toe in gauze, gauze that was already filling with blood. Just as he made the once over with his eyes, he saw another gash appear across Daniel’s forehead and then another across his left shoulder.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack bellowed. “What is happening to Daniel?”

“We do not know sir, the wounds just keep appearing…faster than we can get them covered.” Dr. Warner groaned as he set to work on yet another wound.

Within seconds of Jack’s arrival, Jacob/Selmak, George Hammond, Teal’c, Nafrayu, and Leya all came running in. Not even taking a moment to slow at the door, Leya glided over to Daniel’s head and crossed her wrists. Just as fast as her eyes had closed, they popped open again. It was evident to everyone in the room that what she saw had greatly scared the Nox woman because she grew pale in complexion.

“What is it Leya?” General Hammond asked the diminutive alien.

“Daniel is fighting within his own mind, fighting himself.” Leya blanched. “I have never felt so much anger and hatred, and it is all Daniel towards Daniel.”

“You mean to tell me that Dr. Jackson is doing this to himself?” General Hammond asked with dismay.

“Yes and no.” Leya responded as she stepped back away from the bed. “Daniel is fighting against that part of himself that is his guilt. Guilt over every bad thing that has happened to him and around him that he could not prevent.”

“Jesus Christ!” Jack yelled as he saw another gash appear, this one running from Daniel’s chin down to his right collarbone.

“Sir, he is not going to be able to take much more of this…he is starting to bleed out!” Dr. Warner yelled out.

Jumping over to the bed, Selmak took control over the body he shared with Jacob Carter and started using the Tok’ra healing device that he still had in his pocket. With great effort Selmak scanned the device across the worst of the wounds in order to close them. Panting with exhaustion, he stopped after several minutes and sagged against the wall.

“That will have to do for now. I do not have my strength back from the transference session this morning.” Selmak said breathlessly.

“Thank you Selmak.” Dr. Warner said with a nod. “I think the wounds are slowing down on their appearance rate…that should buy us some time.

Nodding over to the nurses that were standing by, Dr. Warner moved away as they descended like a hive of bees and began putting IV lines into Daniel’s arms. Once the lines were in, bags of antibiotics and blood were hung and began coursing their way into the waiting body.

“What about Major Carter and Freya/Anise?” Teal’c asked the doctor.

“Freya/Anise has a gash across her palms, but I can not get her hands separated from Daniel’s to bandage them.” the doctor responded.

“Should not Anise be able to heal the wounds?” Teal’c asked.

“No.” Leya spoke up in answer to the question. “Freya, Anise, and Samantha are all in a deep state of sleep in which the symbiote is unable to heal the host, and they are all currently inside of Daniel’s mind.”

“They are where?” Jacob blurted out.

“They have been linked with Daniel, so that they can help him come back to this plane.” Nafrayu said before Leya could. “If they are removed from physical contact, they too will become lost. They must remain in contact until they all wake on their own.”

“How is this possible?” George asked looking at Nafrayu.

Looking over to Leya from permission and receiving a nod of acknowledgement, Nafrayu explained.

“The “others” allowed them to use a bond which existed, but they are unable to activate on their own. This bond connected them into Daniel’s mind where he has locked himself away in guilt. They are to be his guides back from that place and into this one.” Nafrayu said with the innocence of a child and the knowledge of someone much older.

“So, what is up the wounds?” Jack asked Leya and Nafrayu.

“It would seem that the conflict being waged inside of Daniel’s mind is one of physical blows. As such, the wounds suffered within the mind are suffered on the physical forms as well.” Leya stated.

“Any idea how long this is going to go on?” George asked.

“Until Daniel is victorious or he is subjugated.” Nafrayu stated without a second thought.

“You shall never defeat me.” Dark Daniel growled after taking another hit from the chains Good Daniel was wielding. “Even if you subdue me today, I will come back again…I am always with you because you are weak.”

“That is what you think.” Good Daniel spat with vehemence. “I am not weak because I care and I feel empathy for others; that is what makes me strong…stronger than you.”

While saying that statement, Good Daniel brought both chains down with great force and everyone watched in amazement as they wrapped around Evil Daniel instead of slicing into him. The chains that once bound Good Daniel to the ground, and now bound Evil Daniel, pulled free of Good Daniel’s grip and shot downwards into the ground securing Evil Daniel in place.

“What is this, what are you doing?” Evil Daniel screamed.

“I have faced you and have regained my control over you.” Good Daniel stated with confidence. “You will stay locked up here, by yourself.”

Walking over to the three ladies that came to help him, Good Daniel knelt down in front of them.

“Thank you. Thank you for coming to get me.” God Daniel stated with sincerity. “I do not think that I would have ever found my own strength again if not for you all.”

Not saying anything, all three women launched their arms around Good Daniel and clung to him. Each of the four of them wept as their emotions cascaded up and down. Daniel took turns placing his forehead against each of theirs for several minutes a piece to share in their turmoil.

“Fools; Weak pathetic fools!” Evil Daniel shouted from where he was chained to the ground. “Look at you all being so emotionally weak.”

“We are not weak because we have emotions.” Freya vented. “That is what makes us stronger than you.”

“I think we should get out of here.” Good Daniel said nodding back over his shoulder.

“We think you are right.” Sam said as she got up off the ground and started walking towards the darkened corridor.

Stooping to help her up, Good Daniel was careful not to touch Freya’s slashed palms.

“I did that to you, I am so sorry Freya.” Good Daniel said with tears in his eyes.

“No, he did this to me…not you Daniel.” Freya said motioning with her chin in Evil Daniel’s direction. “But we can talk more about that when we are safely out of here.”

All four headed down the darkened corridor with at a quick pace, none of them wanting to linger in the torture chamber longer than needed. Exiting through the entrance in the wall, everyone stopped short to squint at the brightness.

“Man, it was dark as night when we went in after you.” Samantha smirked.

“The only darkness in my mind is now locked away behind us.” Daniel said smiling at is three friends. “But let us put some distance between us and this place.”

“You have got a deal.” Anise half-laughed. “That was entirely too ugly back in there.”

“I am sorry any of you had to see and deal with that...” Daniel began.

Stepping over to him, Sam put her hand over Daniel’s mouth to stop him in mid sentence.

“No more of that!” Samantha commanded. “You have spent entirely too much time being guilty for no reason.”

“How long have I been locked in there?” Daniel asked seeing the haunted look reflected in Sam’s eyes.

“Six months. You have been in a coma for six months.” Sam said starting to cry.

“I am sorry to have put you through that...” Daniel started to say when he received a hard slap across his face from Freya.

“Didn’t she just tell you to stop playing at being guilty for what you cannot control?” Freya glared while shaking her hand from the pain.

“Right… No more apologizing.” Daniel said rubbing his jaw as he watched the three women in his life start walking north.

Shaking his head, Daniel followed a few paces behind the women as they started making their way back towards the edge of the woods. No one spoke during their hike; they just took in the difference of their surroundings.

Instead of the dark and spooky woods they had traveled through to rescue Daniel, they woods were now lit as if with the early morning light. The trees were no longer withered and ominous looking, they were green and full of life. The sounds of birds and other animals could be heard from all around them. The hike out of the woods did not take as much time as did the hike in, but that they figured was due to the change in the environment. The air was a little cool, but not the biting cold they had suffered through earlier.

Reaching the edge of the forest, each of them had to cover their eyes from the blinding glare of sunlight they stepped into.

“Man that is bright!” Sam cringed.

“I almost prefer the darkness we walked in to get here.” Anise cracked.

“You aren’t kidding, man that hurts.” Freya grimaced.

“Huhuhuhuhu…” all Daniel could do was chuckle at their whining.

Jack and the rest of the group watched and waited to see if any more wounds would appear on the three sleeping individuals. When nothing more happened after several minutes they all sighed with relief.

“Man, this is so typical of Daniel...” Jack huffed, “how much time have I spent in the infirmary watching him lay up in bed?”

“Indeed, DanielJackson does seem to spend more time in the infirmary than any other I have known.” Teal’c said in his normally stoic continence.

The sudden appearance of a hand-size mark on Daniel’s jaw had Jack laughing out loud.

“I think that was a slap, which means Dannyboy has been found by one of the three of them if I don’t miss my guess.” Jack chuckled.

“Indeed.” was all of Teal’c’s response.

“Colonel O’Neill,” General Hammond addressed Jack. “I am going to return to my office, let me know if anything here changes.”

“Yes sir.” Jack replied smartly as he watched the General leave the private room.

“That must have been one hell of a slap.” Jacob Cater commented rubbing his own jaw in sympathy.

“I wonder who slapped him.” Jack quipped rocking on the balls of his feet.

End Chapter Twenty-Five of
Sacrifice & Reward
by Will
Go To
Chapter Twenty-Six

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.