Tarnished Heroes
A Daniel Jackson
Stargate SG-1
Adult FanFiction Series
By
Moon Mistress
a/k/a Lisa Beth Darling

Chapter Thirty-Three

I seen a lot of good things dying now
In an over emotional way
Please hand me the bottle
I think I’m going down
Please give me direction
I think I just caved in
Kody
Matchbox 20

Calla pushed the little four-wheeled ATV to its limit for half the day whizzing past forests and tress, vegetation and animal life until she came to the first small village. The blood Moon ritual over with the towns’ people returned to their thatch homes. Dirty and dusty from the road, shaking from the drugs and adrenaline running through her system and almost dying of thirst, Calla brought the ATV to a stop, its small engine grateful for the respite.

These nice people didn’t seem to speak English and her present condition it was difficult to understand the Ancient Greek they spoke—and she should understand—so fluently. Calla’s best shot t breaking the language barrier was something which past words, she fished in her purse for her wallet and flashed around a photograph of Daniel and asked if anyone had seen him. Faces lit up and nods were passed around, the women giggled and blushed. With a hazy mind, she was able to discern something about Daniel, his friends, and a Bacchanalia. “Bacchus is here?” She asked one of the women. “Bacchus?” Calla said again and pointed to the ground. “Here?” More nods, more smiles and more giggles. “Where is Daniel?” Calla pointed to the photograph. The smiles disappeared as the people comprehended what she was asking them.

“Medea.” Said a voice in the crowd of those gathered around her. “Daniel Medea.”

Callas’ heart dropped about ten feet. This was not where she thought they were going at all.

“Medea,” she rushed the name out of her lips. “Where?”

At first, no one around her anted to tell her, just as they didn’t want to tell her where Daniel had gone. After a few moments a man stepped forward, he was young and perhaps he was the owned of the voice. He pointed off toward the west and then drew a crude map in the dirt. On shaking legs she knelt in the dirt by his side. A woman came forward with a bowl of cold water and Calla drank deeply from it then tossed the remained over the top of her head to rid herself of the dust and help wake her. She had a magick powder of her own for keeping her alert and it had been a few hours when she left this village she’d help herself to another spoonful or three or four.

In broken Ancient Greek and Bastard English, she was told the tale of the Bacchanalia and how Lord Bacchus cast out Daniel, Jack and Teal’c at the Blood Moon. Though of course she’d never attended one Calla didn’t filled in on the details of the goings on at one of Bacchus’ parties. Daniel wouldn’t engage in that, he just wouldn’t. Calla’s mind raced and seemed to just stop altogether. She didn’t David to speak up but he did anyway.

“Not Daniel.” She said aloud to no one though those around her thought she was speaking to them and struggled to understand her. “He loves me.”

“Shut up.”

“Shut up!” Calla stood up, knocking over the bowl by her side and banged her fists against the sides of her head. She did dream about it, she did paint, and yes, motherfucker, they all looked like Sha’re. “Not Daniel.” The faces around her were looking at her with grave concerned. In Ancient Greek, they were mumbling to each other if she was all right and if there was something they should do. It looked the like girl was breaking down. Calla looked around at them and at then back at the dirt map, she thanked them for them kindness and jumped back on the ATV.

“No,” a ways down from the little town she pulled over and pulled out her Happy Kit. She wandered off into the woods to find a comfortable place to sit, think, get stoned, and have a spoonful. Leaned up against fir she packed a bowl and smoked the entire thing in less than two minutes. One great big hit after another of the lightly laced weed and soon everything around her didn’t seem so bad. It seemed rather colorful and pleasant. The woods were very green and the sky brilliantly blue. Calla didn’t want to spend any time thinking about what did or didn’t happen at the Bacchanalia or what Medea was or wasn’t doing to him. The bowl cashed she dropped the ash to the forest floor and took out the little amber bottle. There was another little amber bottle in the Happy Kit it had clear liquid and dropper top just like Andy had. Andy hadn’t gotten around to telling her what it was or did or how to use it.

Daniel and all of those Sha’res, the image kept creeping back no matter how spoonfuls she put up her nose or how much her head tingled and her heart beat like a racehorse. It wouldn’t go away. She refused to believe it. Not until she saw him.

Another spoonful and she reminded herself that she was far from the perfect wife over this last week. Andy had been courting her and she’d been letting him. Karmic Pay Back. Wasn’t it a fucking bitch?

“Asshole,” she muttered to no one but the man who had suddenly decided to take up residence in her head. Calla capped the coke vial and strapped it back into the Happy Kit wishing she’d brought more with her. It was getting closer and closer to empty and she had a feeling she was going to need that energy boost. Best to spare it and smoke the weed when necessary. No shots though, that would be bad. She wouldn’t be able to function then.

David was right about one thing; she couldn’t sit here wasting the entire day. She had their map in her head and she’d follow it, she came to rescue her husband and that was just what she was going to do. Winding and weaving her way back to the ATV the ground seemed to move and at first, she thought she was higher than she really was. The ground was moving and there was a nasty stench in the air.

“Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell an O-Lym-Pi-an.” Growled a deep and very loud voice.

Calla ducked back behind the trees at the Cyclops passed by. That wasn’t a hallucination. That was real, she was sure anyway that was real. What the hell is this place? Watching him continue to pass by she made a dash for the ATV.

The Cyclops had seen the little machine and recognized it. “Ha!”

Calla looked back and made eye-to-eye contact with the giant beast there was no cover and nowhere to hide as he charged after her. Perhaps it was a lucky thing for her that she was seeing two or three of him instead of the one, zigging and zagging trying to avoid three of them confused the Cyclops as much as it did her. Calla knew one thing; she had to stay close to the massive monster. Her only chance was to bring it down to the ground. The Cyclops smashed out with his huge club and banged the ground causing it to shake beneath her feet. He reached out and tried to snatch her up. Calla ran around him and in and out through his legs, making the big creature bend this way and that to keep up with her.

She taunted him; “Over here, nope, oh missed again, come on, over here, catch me, catch me”. Not far from her, off to right was a large boulder jutting out from the ground and with her zigging and zagging she tried to herd the creature in that direction. She skittered away from him, right out in full view, “Well come on, catch me!” She shouted and began running in circles around him as she guided him toward the rock.

In and out through his legs and round his feet the Cyclops quickly grew dizzy just watching her. “Get back here, little Goddess, you can’t escape me!” He chuckled enjoying the game of Cat n Mouse she was providing him with. “I’ll get you.” The Cyclops reached down, around, and behind while she scampered this way and that.

“I thought you were going to catch me?” She shouted up at him. “You’re not doing a good job.” The Cyclops bent deeply forward and she stood her ground until his hand was almost on her then she flitted away between his legs and behind him. “Nope, over here big boy!” His big body twisted and he bent down for her again.

Last time.

She rushed forward through his legs. “Over here you big oaf!”

With a big sweeping motion the giant brought his red-skinned one-eyed body round again and swooped down to grab her. In doing so he lost his own balance, his own momentum carried him forward, his head crashing down upon the boulder Calla had kept her eye on. Blood gushed from his temple and ushered forth great clumps of blood that covered everything around.

“Nighty-night,” she said to him and dashed toward the ATV not knowing the giant was dead or alive.

David’s voice rang almost complimentary in her head as the ATV raced off toward Daniel and Medea’s home.

“You know why,” she muttered.

Yeah, dem drugs got deir bennies but dey got thay down side too. Still it was a hell of a show, Callie.

“Thanks.” She replied while they sped down the dirt path. Calla tried to stay far away from the river and not cross it until she had to. Medea, the Cyclops and the Hydra had all been banished together. Bacchus had come here before them and he and his followers had come willingly to this place that much she could recall. There was no time to stop and engage his help, she didn’t even know where Bacchus was and if he’d banished Daniel and the others to Medea, to begin with he wasn’t likely to lend her a hand now. She was on her own, oh well, she had David for company. Wasn’t that nice?

Darkness began to descend and she found that she was starving. Slowing the ATV to a stop Calla rummaged in the purse and came back with a pack of tic-tacs, chewing gum, and a Snickers bar. She devoured the candy bar and some of the mints. She had an awful headache now and her mouth was covered in a thick layer of paste. Fumbling around in the satchel some more she came up with a travel-sized bottle of ibuprofen and swallowed four dry. There was nothing to drink in the purse today. If she’d been going off to the gallery or to class there might be a bottle of Coke or something in it but she hadn’t had the time to stop and gather such things before she left. Her thirst was driving her to find water and quickly. According to the map drawn in the dirt, she’d probably be somewhere near Medea’s abode by now and she’d kept traveling with the river but making sure to stay on high roads where she could see it from above and watch the water for any unnatural rippling. Along with keeping out of the Hydra’s reach Calla hoped she would be able to see Medea’s home from this height.

The candy bar and tiny mints did little to sate her hunger in fact they only made it worse. Her stomach longed for something to eat and her body, beginning to crash, begged her for sleep. How long had it been since she’d put that last spoon up her nose? She didn’t know but it had been day light then. Looking down at the small gold watch on her wrist didn’t help it had been smashed while she was running away from the Cyclops. She had to stay awake she had to be alert because she had to find Daniel. No matter what he might have done at the Bacchanalia, he was still her husband and didn’t deserve to be served up on a platter. In the dark she fumbled the Happy Kit out of her purse. Her nose was running and she sniffed back a large glop of snot then spit it out before uncapping the amber vial. One, two, three, four little spoonfuls up and away, bye-bye. As her head tingled and her headache exploded into something nearing the attack on Nagasaki a small trickle of blood ran from her nose and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. Calla put the vial back into the zipper case and stuck it back in her purse.

It was night now and there was no sun to warm her half-naked body, Calla didn’t have much fat to keep her warm, so she rode the ATV more slowly than before as she weaved her way through the edge of the forest following the river line. Something wafted to her on the night air and it was well seasoned and made her empty stomach rumble. There was something else beneath that dinner bell; Daniel. Calla stopped the ATV once more and got off. She walked around with her nose up in the air and her eyes searching the darkness. Yes, she smelled him, Jack, and Teal’c—oh, Teal’c he smelled rancid! Samantha as well her scent was in the air. They couldn’t be far off. It was time to cross the river.

Eyes searching for a narrow spot in the river while she rode the ATV at a snail’s pace along the highland and making her way from the hillside to the river’s edge. There had to be some place to cross. Off the in the distance the water rippled in the moon light. The Hydra prowled and she had to keep far away from it for it was quicker and smarter than the Cyclops was. She had the 9mm but something deep within her told it was useless here but just in case she as wrong—she was flying pretty high and trusting her own intuition probably wasn’t the best idea—she flicked the safety off and fired it at the river.

Pop.

The bullet fell to the ground like the load from a limp cock.

“Yeah, no good.” She stuffed it back into the back; if nothing else, she could hit something with it. An idea came to her drugged mind one that probably otherwise would not have occurred to her and perhaps the gun wasn’t as useless as she thought. Steering down the hillside and keeping an eye on the ripping water, she made her way down to the shore but didn’t cross into the water. The beach was littered with broken shells, sharp edged, broken shells. Keeping a good eye on that water but not dismounting the ATV, she reached down, scooped up handfuls, and dumped them into her bag. The rippling water followed her as she cruised the shoreline looking for that narrow spot.

The same one Sam and SG-3 and found the night before appeared about a mile down the beach and she knew that because there were three ATVs in the shallow water. The Hydra was waiting and so was she. Calla fished the gun out of the bag and emptied the clip into her hand. Keeping the ATV between her and the water, she rummaged in the bag for her car keys and used it to pry one of the bullets open. Once again, she needed to test a theory before putting it into practical application, finding a dry rock she dumped the contents of one bullet onto and put the BIC to the black powder. It let out a bright flare as expected.

Good.

Dropping the lighter onto the top of her purse, she pulled out the pack of chewing gum. Working quickly as she could she opened all the remaining bullets and dumped the black powder into the foil gum wrapper sealing one end tight and leaving the other a bit lose. Calla ripped off a small patch of the shirt and stuffed it into the open end then she laid the sharp edged shells on top of it. The water stopped rippling. It knew she was here and it was reading for its attack. That was ok, so was she.

Glancing down to find the BIC light the water broke and great waves came down. Dropping the bag upon hearing the Hydra break the waters' surface, she covered the rock with her body to keep the powder dry. “Gods you’re a big ugly bitch!” She yelled at it as the water ceased falling and she went back to fumbling inside the damp bag.

The Hydra reared its ugly serpents’ head and let out a roar that echoed through the forest. It slithered across the surface of the water charging toward her, its teeth gnashing as it came closer and closer.

“Come on!” Finally, her hand found the lighter and she brought it up to the powder. Wait, wait, wait. Calla’s heart beat double time as the lighter sparked and wouldn’t light, it had gotten wet with the wave of water. “Shit!” She screamed and continued flicking her BIC.

The great slimy beast closed in and seemed to smile at her as its black eyes focused in on its prey. She could smell its rancid breath.

“Light!” Calla yelled. “Fire! Damn it!” The BIC ignited and she laid the flame to the scrap of material jutting out from the shells. Calla skittered away as quickly as she could before the black powder flashed a brilliant yellow/orange/red flare and ushered the shards of broken shells into the Hydra’s dark eyes, a dark green liquid oozed from its eyes. Blind and in agony, the Hydra screamed out and flopped around on the shore helpless and no longer a threat to her or those she was seeking to rescue.

“All right, good.” She cheered herself on. “Two down, one to go.” With the Hydra howling and flopping in pain she stopped to get a drink of the cold fresh river water and slake her thirst before throwing a shaking leg over the seat of the ATV Calla crossing the river. Calla followed Daniels’ scent as it rose and fell on the wind.

Medea’s stew was almost ready and all she needed was a little fresh meat to add to the pot. She never liked her meat well done she liked it raw and wriggling. Slowly sauntering between the cages, she looked from one to the other wondering which one she would she would taste of next. The woman could wait; they were always bitter and tough. Men had much better flesh. Since the Jaffa was in bad shape already….

Teal’cs cell door opened.

“What are you doing?” Daniel asked. “Get away from him.”

“Do you have something better to offer me?” Medea asked with a sly smile.

“Maybe.” Daniel told her in a soft voice and made his way to the bars while Jack and Sam looked on.

The cell door closed and locked. Medea turned her piqued attention to him. “What?” Her gaze fell upon his crotch. “What can you offer me?”

“What you want.” Daniel returned. “The symbols to get you home.”

Medea inflated and deflated at the same time. “Perhaps later.” She turned back to the cage where Teal’c was suffering through a raging infection. “That won’t satisfy my appetite.”

“I’ll satisfy your appetite if you leave him alone.”

“Will you now?” Medea asked and walked away from Teal’cs cell.

“Daniel what are you doing?” Jack inquired in a low voice as the sorceress made her way past him toward Daniel. Medea shot him a cold stare and an even colder grin as she passed him by.

“What makes you think you can satisfy me?” She inquired as she leaned against the squared bars of Daniels’ cell.

“I can get the job done.” Daniel told her. “Don’t you want that any more?”

Her eyes lit up as she thought it over for a moment. “I do.” The way he was looking at her made the dusty space between her legs tingle with anticipation.

“You wanna do it here?” Daniel looked around at the cell and the people looking on in disbelief.

The idea was intriguing but no, she’d rather him without an audience. Medea slipped a dagger from her waistband, it was the same one she’d used to filet Teal’c. She took the key from her belt and held both up for him to see. “Promise to be a good boy, Daniel. No tricks.” She warned.

“No tricks.” Daniel agreed and stepped away from the bars. Medea opened the cage and beckoned him forward. Without hesitating, he walked through the door.

“Go up the stairs.” Medea told him while she hid behind the open cell door and flashed the blade at him.

Daniel slunk toward the stairs. Jack reached out and grabbed his bare arm. “What are you doing?”

Daniel just shrugged him off. He’d fucked so many women back in Bacchus’ realm what was one more? If he couldn’t find a way to get them all out of here, at least it would buy them a little time. Up the stairs they went, Medea behind him her knife in his back. They walked through a crude kitchen and then into a bedroom. “Take your trousers off.” She ordered and left the door open as she pushed his toward the bed. “I want to see what I’m getting.”

Daniel never felt more repulsed and less like getting a hard-on in his whole life but he dropped his drawers and stepped out of them, as she demanded. “You might have to help it’s hard to get it up at knife point.”

Yes, he was a very fine specimen and she’d be happy to help him with his little problem. “Lie down, Daniel make yourself comfortable.” The witch invited.

If he went along with her maybe he could find a way to get that knife away from her. Daniel lay down on the bed.

A large stone cottage came into view and Calla killed the ATVs engine. Daniel was in there his scent was very strong now. All of them were in the little innocuous cabin with its chimney happily churning out smoke and wafting the scent of some akin to beef stew into the air. It was innocuous and it was not innocent a great evil lived in that little house. How was she to outwit it? What little goodies did she have left in her bag of magick tricks? Wanting to be clear and sober but unable to face what lie ahead in that manner she dug into her Happy Kit and packed herself a small bowl which she huffed down in no time just for the taste of it. That thick pasty taste was back in her mouth. Her muscles were trembling uncontrollably from the drugs, the adrenaline rush and just plain old over exertion. Her encounters with the Cyclops and Hydra had been very draining and demanding. All of it left her whooped and too pooped to putt. Not much magick powder in the amber vial now, she figured she might as well put it to good use so up her nose it went. And down came a thicker trickle of blood than last time. Strung out and trying to think her eyes fell upon the contents of the Happy Kit once more. Perhaps she did have a way to kill the wicked witch if she could get it cooked up.

Not wanting to alert Medea with the sound of the ATVs engine Calla stumbled to the cabin door and peered inside. She saw a kitchen with a stone hearth and large cauldron cooking over an open flame. Feeling a bit like Little Red Riding Hood, she opened the door and stepped inside. Calla was very quiet as she crept around listening for any sound. Something was coming from the room directly across from her. The door there was open she could see a dresser and the end of Medea’s bed. In the corner of the bedroom stood a mirror that reflected the images of her husband and the sorceress.

“Tell me, Daniel, what changed your mind?” Medea asked one hand holding the dagger and the running along his shaft trying to bring it to life and having little success.

He should tell her that she was beautiful and irresistible and all of that happy shit but he really didn’t feel like it. “I want my friends to live.” It wasn’t a good reason to get the old Johnson to stand at attention, now was it? Try as he did he just couldn’t make it rise for her. Medea was starting to get frustrated in her attempts. She licked her lips and smiled at him but he didn’t want that cannibals’ mouth anywhere near his cock.

“Who says I will let them live?” Her grip on his shaft tightened to a stranglehold. “If you can’t perform for me why should I keep them alive?” Perhaps he just needed some more encouragement she had many herbs that would help him rise up. Peeling off her clothing Medea rose from the bed and crossed over to an ancient dresser where many dark vials held liquid extracts of all types. She plucked one from the dresser top opened it and brought it over to him. “Take this.”

“Wh…” That’s as far as he got before she shoved it into his mouth and squeezed the horrid liquid into his mouth. Almost immediately, the strong Kola extract made his head spin and his heart race. Whoa, whatever that nasty stuff was it was better than Viagra and speed combined. Within mere moments, Daniel felt like he could take on all the women in the world at once and his cock stood at full attention. Suddenly all he wanted to do was fuck. He didn’t care who or how.

“That’s better.” She said to him and swung a leg over his torso to find her dry cunt dripping with fresh juice. He quite the effect on her and she intended to indulge in every inch of it.

Out in Medeas’ kitchen, listening and watching the reflections in the mirror, Calla dumped all of the blue/white powder into a small metal skillet and drizzled water over it. With a shaking hand she held it over the open hearth while she eavesdropped on their conversation and held her breathe waiting for it to cook down.

“I can be any one you want me to be, Daniel.” Medea searched his mind for the woman with the dark hair and dark eyes. A wife. A first wife. And he never stopped loving her. She wondered if Callestah knew. “That little Goddess of yours has nothing on me.” Medea cooed and lowered herself over his waiting cock. “Tell me, Daniel, say it, and tell me how unsatisfying she is. How she fails to please her Consort.” The sensation of him filling her was excruciatingly exhilarating it had been so long since she’d had a man inside that aching hole.

“Look at me, Dan-yell.”

Long dark hair flowing over him, big jugs jostling in his face and her cunt sliding up and down on him, he didn’t know if it was the drug she dropped in his mouth or if she’d been able to change her face but right now she looked so much like Sha’re as he reached up to touch her face. “Do it, baby.” Her hips ground down on him and she opened further for him.

The mixture in the skillet thickened and bubbled, Calla uncapped the syringe not bothering with the cotton ball and dipped the sharp end into it. Andy said never to draw it up past the 15cc mark but this was no time for safety precautions. Calla filled the syringe to capacity 35cc’s. Drawing in a deep breath as she drew in the poison she closed her eyes and gathered her nerves to behold the sight she was about to see.

“Right,” she whispered. Heart racing and her mind spinning off into a thousand different directions she burst into the bedroom where the sorceress was currently fucking her husband. In the door she almost froze as Daniel whispered;

“Sha’re.”

Calla let out a warrior’s cry that would have made Father proud as she charged the two people on the bed. Daniel looked over in shock to see wife and Medea instinctively brought her hands up to cover her face. Calla shoved the needle into the witch’s neck and pushed the plunger down. “Get away from my husband you wicked bitch!”

Medea’s raised hands went to the area and pulled the needle out of her flesh. “What is this?” She demanded and almost instantly fell ill. She wretched and heaved uncontrollably as she puked the rather nefarious contents of her stomach all over the man below her.

It didn’t take much Calla pushed the vomiting woman away from Daniel, she tumbled off him and to the floor on the other side of the bed, and Calla grabbed his arm and pulled him from the bed.

Shocked, stunned, completely amazed and covered head to chest in warm stinking puke Daniel looked from his wife to the dark haired woman on her hands and knees retching onto the bedroom floor. “What are you doing here?”

“ME?” She cried out and knew there wasn’t much time. Calla didn’t know if the boot was enough to kill the witch but it would buy them enough time to get the others and get the hell out of here. “Fuck you, Daniel. Where are the others?”

“Calla?” Daniel still couldn’t believe she was here, he had to be dreaming, it had to be some magick in the concoction the sorceress gave him to make his cock stand up. Nevertheless, Calla was here and she was a fucking mess, standing there in only his old flannel shirt her hair going every which way and her nose bleeding. She looked like she’d just been through the trench wars.

“There’s no time! Where’s Jack?” She shouted and the woman on the floor began to crawl toward them while she held her aching stomach. The heroin was closing in and soon she would fall asleep and if death didn’t take her, soon after that she would waken.

“I know what you saw, I know what you’re thinking,” Daniel said as he grabbed the keys from Medea’s dress that was on the floor. “I wasn’t….I wasn’t….” suddenly his fatigues hit him in the face.

“Put your pants on and let’s get out of here!” Calla hissed.

Sam stumbled out and so did Jack. Teal’c didn’t move he just laid there bathed in sweat and calling out in Goa’uld for help. Jack and Daniel heaved him from the floor and between them dragged him toward the steps. Calla put her arm around Sams’ waist to help her while the three men took the lead.

As Calla struggled with Sam she looked up to see the waterfall scratches which covered her husbands’ back and the backs of the other two men but Daniel clearly bore more of them than they did. There was no arguing with those marks. She hadn’t seen them as they hustled down the steps because she was too busy looking back to see if Medea was coming after them. She saw them clear as day now. The coke and the pot weren’t enough to hold back the gigantic heave her stomach gave at the sight of them. Calla began to choke and then heave as they stumbled up the stairs. She drew in a big sniff and tasted the blood drip down the back of her throat. She smelled the scents of dozens and dozens of people all over every one of them. Like the scratches, none of them seemed to stink as much as Daniel did.

Sam looked down to see not only was she sick and her nose bleeding, her eyes were completely bloodshot and puffy and she was crying. Samantha looked up and was met with the same sight Calla was. There wasn’t anything she could say or do to make Calla feel any better.

Passing through the kitchen, they heard the sounds of someone rumbling around in the bedroom. Daniel took in the Happy Kit and her purse on the table as they hurried out the front door. Calla really had given the witch a hot boot he could see that much was true. Just as he saw the empty coke vial and spoon.

Bringing up the rear, Calla reached out with her free hand and snatched the Happy Kit from the table, leaving her purse behind. “One of the ATVs is just around the corner,” Calla said breathlessly as they exited the stone cottage into the cool night air. “Get Teal’c on it and go back to the Gate.”

“And what? Leave the rest of you here?” Jack asked as he looked over his shoulder. “Who put you in charge and where the hell did you come from anyway?”

“You should be damn happy I did show up!” She shouted back.

“Why don’t you just zap all of us out of here and back to the Gate?” Carter asked in a rough voice while she held onto Calla for support.

Daniel didn’t give her time to answer. “She can’t, that’s why you didn’t use your magick on her, isn’t it? Look at you!” Daniel reached out for the black case in her hand but she snatched it away from him.

“It’s mine.” Strung out and coked up or not she still had one very important thing running in her favor and she used it. “I got your sorry asses out of there, didn’t I? A man in your position should a little gratitude, Daniel.” She looked him up and down and did her best to regain some of her composure as she shifted Sam’s weight at her side. “I don’t think you’ve any standing to make accusations, husband.” She shot through thin lips. “Or are my actions not satisfying to you? Perhaps you’d rather be in there with Medea you seemed to be having such a good time, I’m so sorry I interrupted you….husband.”

“I told you I can explain that.”

Calla cut him off. In her condition damn near anything went and as far as she could see life as she knew it was over. “You have an explanation for all of them?”

Calla had several points, she did just save their sorry asses and at the moment, he didn’t have space to talk, to judge or be angry. In the heat of the moment that wasn’t enough to shut him up. “You doped her up with heroin, who taught you how to do that? What the hell have you been doing since I’ve been gone?”

DUCK AND COV’A David shouted out in Daniel’s head. Wrong question Danny-boy!

Calla was too weak to make the ground shake this time, too tired, too spent and too disappointed in her husband. “What do you care?” Was all she said to him and then she turned to the rest of them in an attempt to call their attention back to the more immediate situation at hand. “Just someone get on that damn thing and drive Teal’c out of here. There are more vehicles in the river; the rest of us will use them to get back to the Stargate.”

“What?” Jack asked.

“Sir, SG-3 and I crossed the river last night but the Hydra came and soaked the engines. The ATVs are probably still there.” Carter pulled her tired body away from Calla and stood on her own two feet. A fact she thought Calla was grateful for since Sam was about seven inches taller and fifty pounds heavier than the small woman she’d been using as crutch to escape the stone cottage.

“I can take you to them.” Calla said. “They should be working, the wave didn’t affect them.”

“What wave?” Daniel asked.

“The one the Hydra churned up before I blinded her. Now can we get out of here, please? Before Medea wakes up.”

More than any of the rest of them, Teal’c needed help and Jack as probably second worse off but he ordered Carter onto the ATV. “Go on, we’ll catch up or meet you at the Gate, if you get there first take him through.” Jack grabbed a Bungee chord from the seat and put one of Teal’cs arms over her right shoulder and the other under her left arm, he tied Teal’cs wrists together with the stretchy chord so he wouldn’t fall off on the ride. “Go!”

Sam buzzed off into the night.

“Come on they’re this way.” Calla ordered and took off into the darkness with the two men following her. Keeping a fair distance ahead of them in the dark, she fished in the handy-dandy little case for the last remaining Tools of Happiness. She had a little weed left and she stuffed the bowl at she walked, if nothing else the glowing ember and constant flick of the lighter would let them know where she was and they could follow the scent of the smoke. The other item left in the Happy Kit was that little amber vial with its clear liquid contents.

“You really think you should be doing that?” Daniel shouted out in the darkness and Jack punched him in the forearm. “What the….”

“I think you should shut your mouth.” Jack growled. “What more do you want from her? She came here and got us, you owe her a little something for that.”

“Obviously she didn’t miss me very much while I was gone.” Daniel shot back and stopped walking.

“No? Then why the hell is she here? I don’t think Carter, Teal’c and me were her first priority.” Jack left him alone in the darkness.

The river and the ATVs came up sooner than any of them expected and soon they were riding off toward the Stargate. The night air was cold and none of them was dressed very well, the breeze kept riding between Calla’s bare legs. All of them were covered in goose flesh.

“Keep an eye out for that one-eyed monster,” Jack shouted over the engines as they rode.

Calla looked over at him with a sly smile, “No need for worries there.” She revved the engine. “Follow me,” and sped past both of them. The faster she got back to the Stargate the faster she got home to all those lovely Happy Items waiting to take the pain away.

Just over ¾ of the way to the Gate and day broke over the horizon. They hadn’t come across Sam and Teal’c during the night and figured they were either waiting at the Gate or had already gone through. Passing by the light of dawn Calla looked over to see Bacchus’ great walled city and the people within rising to greet another day. She wondered which ones and how many Daniel had indulged in during the Bacchanalia and wished again for a huff of that lovely white powder and the sting of the needle in her arm.

A few miles past the walled city and Daniel’s ATV gave out. It wouldn’t start it wouldn’t run. “Get on,” she told him.

“I’ll ride with Jack.” Daniel told her.

“Don’t be an idiot. The ATV will be slower with the two of you on it. Get on.” She hissed at him.

Daniel swung his leg over the seat of her ATV and they continued their journey toward the Stargate and home. Sitting behind her, Calla’s hair blowing back in the wind as they raced, he felt like an even bigger shit than his son did on Prom night. Calla came all this way to rescue him; she’d faced countless dangers and won against them all. He’d been screwing every dark haired woman he could get his hands on. Daniels’ arms wrapped around her as she drove and he waited for her to tell him not to touch her but she didn’t. Calla didn’t even look back at him. She did, however, sniff in a great load of snot and then spit it out on the ground as they whizzed by. Calla brought her hand to her nose and wiped at it. When she put it back on the accelerator, he saw it was covered with blood. She’d done a lot of coke since he left enough to choke or even kill a horse. He didn’t even know how to ask her about it, where she got it who showed her how to put the spoon up her nose and the needle in her arm.

“I’m sorry I never meant to hurt you,” he whispered in his wife’s ear. It sounded hollow and pathetic even to him. “I’ll explain everything when we get home.”

Calla just nodded her head and continued to push the little ATV to its limits. She had her own explaining to do when they got home. Maybe she’d had a few lines and a few bowls and, all right, she’d had thoughts about Andy. She’d even blew him off a few times but what was that in comparison to what Daniel had done since he’d been away? She didn’t know but knew they would find out. Suddenly the scenery around her was very familiar. “It’s just over that rise!” She shouted to Jack.

Lt. Colonel Carter and Teal’c were nowhere in sight but the ATV was, she must have gone ahead of them. The Stargate was closed and none of them had a GDO. A sudden wind kicked up and Daniels’ arms wrapped her around her tighter for warmth and support. From nowhere it seemed a storm was spiraling toward them.

It was no hurricane’s gale that bore down. Medea soon raised her ugly head above the trees. Her glassy eyes spitting hells’ fire at them as they sped toward the
Stargate and home. So close, she wouldn’t stop them from reaching their goal Medea was strung out so far all she could see was her rage at having been denied her prize and the little red head who’d snatched him right out from under her naked body. If Ares got pissed off over it then he could come here and make it known to her.

“Little Goddess you won’t leave here alive!” Medea threatened as she rode the wind over the trees and descended upon the small troop.

Calla broke the throttle wide open and weaved a path toward the Stargate while Jack rode beside her and Daniel hung on for dear life. “Slow down!” He cried. But she didn’t listen to him. There was no slowing down now she had no magick with which to fight the witch, they had to get to the Stargate and get through to home.

The storm let loose with an unprecedented vengeance. Hail rained down and thunder roared as the sorceress closed in on them. The DHD was within spitting distance.

“Get off!” She screamed at Daniel. “Dial it up.”

“What?”

“Go!” She pushed him off and away from the ATV so that he could punch in the symbols that she didn’t know. Calla headed off toward the witch her engine revving and her hair flying behind her.

Keeping one eye on Calla, Daniel slammed the symbols that would open the Gate and bring them home. If Medea followed them through he hoped the boys on the other side were ready for her and he hoped they were ready for them as well since they didn’t have a GDO to let the SGC know it was them coming through.

“Hurry up!” Jack shouted and took off after Calla in an attempt to buy Daniel the time he needed to dial home.

Thunder rolled and the hailstones turned into something the size of golf balls they left red welts on the skin and made great dents in the ground. The sorceress dove between the trees and headed for Calla as she rode the wind with a furious pace. Calla had no magick and no strength, all she was the whirring of the small engine between her legs as she ran the gauntlet toward the flying witch. No, nothing but her Happy Kit left and that was near empty. Strung out on the weed and left over effects of the heroin and coke Calla knew how Medea felt. The sorceress wasn’t seeing clearly and the bolts of lightning, which began to shoot from her fingertips, were nothing but muted sparks. The boot hadn’t been enough to kill her and whatever was in that last amber vial was her best shot at subduing if not outright murdering the witch, Calla reached inside the torn breast pocket while she sped toward the witch. She pulled the zipped open with her teeth while keeping the throttle open and glancing back quickly at Daniel, he was just about to open it, and his hand was hovering over the big red center button. Home, they were al going to go home and this nightmare would be over. She’d wake up in her own bed, in Daniels’ arms and it would all have been a horrible dream.

Just in case it wasn’t she freed the last vial and worked the dropper top with her thumb and forefinger as she weaved a path between Daniel and Medea. Settling herself to the ground the sorceress no longer had to concentrate her energies on flying and the lightning bolts between her fingers grew brighter and more focused. Calla didn’t know what the liquid did but she knew what to do with it as the smile broke free on her face and she stood in the saddle, the dropper top discarded to the ground below.

In her drug-hazed mind, Medea realized she had one shot at whatever she was going to do. The Little Goddess was charging at her just as Ares storming his chariot through the heat of battle. One shot. The Stargate opened and Medea aimed her hands at Daniel standing on the platform with his back to her. The lightning engulfed him head to toe and then shot through him toward the open Gate, he let out a cry of agony as he tried to collapse to the ground but the lightning kept him in place. The shot would hurt Ares’ daughter most if she could take the life of the Consort she’d risked her life to save.

“No!” Calla cried as she flew from the speeding ATV with the vial in her hand. Pushing Medea to the ground the line of energy broke from Daniel went wild into the air around them, he crashed to the ground.

Jack looked from the wrestling women to his friend lying half-dead on the DHD platform and the open wormhole beyond. Medea and Calla locked in mortal combat as one of Callas’ hand closed down over the witch’s windpipe and she wrestled the dark haired woman to the ground.

Medea made the fatal mistake of opening her mouth to shout expletives at the woman holding her down as soon as her dry lips parted Calla dumped the liquid into it. She threw the vial to the ground and shut the witch’s mouth with her now free hand. “Swallow it!” She demanded and moved her hand to cover the woman’s mouth and nose so that she had no choice but to swallow in gasping for air.

The raw LSD hit the already charging heroin and Medea began to shiver and shake. The lightning shooting forth from her hands ignited the tree tops and cut through the air before diminishing and then ceasing altogether. Calla beat her head against the ground while she kept the sorceress from drawing breath, her eyes glassy and her mind not her own anymore.

“She’s dead!” Jack cried as he jumped off the ATV and pulled Calla off the limp body of the sorceress. “Get off of her! She’s dead!” Calla didn’t want to let go, she wanted to be sure. “Look at her!’ Jack pried her hands away from Medea’s throat.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. It covered the dirt below them and soaked into the grass from the gaping wound at the back of the old witch’s head.

Daniel.

No words needed, she freed herself of the hold Jack had on her and ran to the man lying limp on the DHD platform. Calla laid her head against Daniels’ chest and heard the faintest of heartbeats. His body burned and a massive hole was clear in his stomach. Calla had no magick to save him with. No time.

Calla scooped her husband up in her arms and ran toward the open Stargate with General O’Neill right behind her.

On the other side, they were met by a large battalion of men with guns at the ready and along with General Thurmond, retired General Hammond, Nicholas and Colleen. Lt. Colonel Carter and Teal’c were already down in the infirmary being tended to by the best doctors available.

“Close it!” Jack shouted as they passed through.

The iris shut.

“Mom!” Nicholas and Colleen shouted as they ran up the ramp and tried to take their Father from her arms but she wouldn’t let him go.

“There’s no time,” she said breathlessly. “You must send us to Ares.”

“What?” Nick asked. “No, we’ll take care of him.” And tried to grab Daniel away from her again.

“You can’t, both of you together can’t do this. Please, if you love him, send us to Ares.” She begged again and then quietly confessed. “I can’t do it. You must help.”

Daniel was half-naked, half-dead and bleeding profusely in her arms and their Mother was quickly sinking to her knees all of her strength draining out of her. Mom was so incredibly desperate to save him. Nick grabbed Colleen’s hands and together they did as they were asked. Daniel and Calla disappeared from the Gate Room and reappeared in their Grandfather’s cave.

“Did we do the right thing?” Colleen asked as they disappeared. “Nicky, please, tell me we did the right thing!” Both of them knew what she was going to do.

Nicholas didn’t answer her.

End of Chapter Thirty-Three of
Daughter of the Gods:
Tarnished Heroes
An Adult Stargate FanFiction Novel
By
Moon Mistress
Continue to
Chapter Thirty-Four