SCAR BY JOAG

"Colonel, I'm reading that energy spike again."

Daniel noted that Jack didn't even bother turning towards Sam as he squinted into the late afternoon sun. "That's what, third time so far today?"

"And four times yesterday," Daniel added as he peered over Sam's shoulder to examine the display readings.

Teal'c stopped beside them and Daniel saw him glance at the analysis also. Of course, now it was reading normal, but for a few seconds, Daniel had seen for himself that it had been spiking.

"I got a bearing on it this time, sir. It came from over there." Sam pointed at a large rock formation to their right. Daniel looked carefully and thought he could make out an opening. "Hey, is that a—"

"Heads up, kids."

Daniel glanced up at Jack's warning in time to see two of the alien creatures slowly floating past them. They were darkish grey, fuzzy, almost the color of the rocks, and just over two feet in length. They seemed to float aimlessly on the wind, but contrary to their idyllic appearance, they could move quickly when they wanted to. As they had the first time Jack had poked one with a stick.

At first they'd thought them to be plants or airborne weed as they just floated lazily above the ground, but by the way they'd all scurried away from them at their approach, it was apparent that they were some kind of sentient creatures. Then one had turned to look at them. It was funny to see how they could float in the air, slither on the ground like a snake or run on what appeared to be tiny protuberances that acted like legs.

As this pair drifted past him, Daniel slowly took a couple of slow steps closer.

"Careful."

Daniel waggled a hand behind him to show Jack that yes, he was being cautious. He just wanted a closer look. One of the two turned part of its body towards him and he made out its little head. Its face was a mix of small cat and fox, and its eyes were a shade darker than its body. It didn't have any visible ears. It blinked, and Daniel saw it even had eyelashes. There was a darker area at the tip of what looked like its nose and he smiled as a small blue tongue came out to lick its lips. Condensation leaked out of its mouth as it exhaled in the chilly air.

The creature seemed inquisitive and it curved its body in midair, moving closer towards Daniel. He stood still, smiling at its curiosity.

"Daniel?"

"It's okay, Jack," he breathed gently as the long, slim shape circled him. It butted his chest gently with its head, the movement pushing it back a foot in the air. Daniel held out his hand tentatively towards it.

"What? Are you crazy?" Daniel glanced at Jack and saw he had his P-90 aimed at the creature. Teal'c also had his staff weapon up and charged.

"Geez, Jack, it's just as curious about us as we are about it." The small tongue flicked at Daniel's fingers, then slid its body alongside his hand. Daniel lightly touched the fur, surprised at the warmth and velvety feel.

"Well, I'm not curious. I'd rather it keep its distance." Jack put his hands up and took several steps backwards as the other creature came towards him. Not to be left out, the alien immediately turned and moved towards Sam and Teal'c. Sam, like Daniel, put out a hand, and the animal, after sniffing and licking her fingers, allowed itself also to be stroked.

The creature appeared to relish the contact, rubbing itself harder against Daniel's hand. There was a small scar about six inches from its face, and it constantly pressed that part of its body into Daniel's fingers. He obligingly scratched the area until it was satisfied and allowed Daniel access to the rest of its body.

"Okay, petting zoo's hours are over. Can we maybe get a move on here?"

With a final caress to the soft body, Daniel stepped away from the creature. Sam also moved away, and as they began walking towards the rock formations, Daniel saw the creatures were following them.

Daniel chuckled as his shoulder was butted from behind. He raised his arm and the creature immediately moved to place its head between his arm and ribs. He petted the soft fur as it moved silently beside him. He took the opportunity to study how it managed to move in the air, and realized that there were several small translucent fins on the bottom of its body, near the back. Okay, that might be how it moved around, but what made it stay afloat?

"I'm reading concentrations of helium around them," Sam said, her thoughts seeming to follow Daniel's. "It must somehow be how they stay afloat."

"Helium?" Jack asked.

"It's a gas that's lighter than air... it's what you put in balloons so that they float."

"I know that," Jack said, giving Daniel a dirty look. "I just meant... how would they get it? It's not like they have a tank of the stuff to blow themselves up with when they feel like it."

"They must either take it from the atmosphere or have some other way of synthesising it." Sam slowed her pace slightly as the other creature began twirling around her. It then placed its head on her shoulder, its body following along at the same pace as hers.

"So, these are just like a bunch of floating balloons?"

"Living, floating balloons," Daniel corrected.

"Right." Jack raised his eyebrows and rested his hands on his P-90.

They walked until Daniel could clearly make out the cave opening he had spied earlier. He pointed it out as they stood in the weak sunshine, reluctant to step under the cold shadow of the looming stone. He preferred the weak warmth of sunshine.

"Sir, I just got another energy spike. It's definitely coming from inside that cave."

"Great. Teal'c, you take point, I've got your sixes."

As they slowly filed towards the cave, the two creatures suddenly began squirming in agitation. Their movements were no longer graceful, but were full of small fits and starts, turning around one another and very obviously blocking SG1's path. They were making small squeaking sounds, and within seconds, several more of the creatures had joined them.

"I believe they do not wish us to approach." Teal'c stopped, reluctant to press ahead of the squirming mass.

"Carter, Daniel? Any guesses as to why they're doing this?"

"Obviously they don't want us to go into the cave." Daniel took two steps forward to stand beside Teal'c, and was aware of the others doing the same. Two of the creatures butted him backwards with their heads and then wrapped themselves around his body, constantly moving. He was surprised at their strength.

"For critters that are full of hot air, they sure pack a punch." Jack was also encircled by the long, slim creatures, as were the others.

"They don't seem to want to hurt us, sir, my guess is that they're protecting something in there."

"The energy reading?" Jack asked.

"Possibly. Or maybe they have their nests inside. Maybe there are young or eggs."

"Let's try to push forward slowly and carefully, and see what else these balloon guys will do."

They moved slowly, despite the small worried squawks and squeaks. By the time they'd gotten a few feet from the door, the animals gave up and moved away, only to hover or lie on the ground. Knowing it was dangerous to place human traits on alien animals, Daniel couldn't help but think they looked like a bunch of dejected, sulking children.

"Daniel."

Jack's gruff call made him realize he'd been staring at the aliens while Sam and Teal'c had already entered the large opening in the stone. With a last glance at the group behind him, he entered the cave, with Jack one step behind.

There was debris all around the edges of the entrance, evidence that someone had forced their way inside at one time. There was lots of dust and dirt all around, and Daniel guessed that it had been quite a while since anyone had disturbed the interior.

"The damage appears to have been made by staff weapons," Teal'c remarked. Even in the dim light from their flashlights, Daniel could see the darkened spots where the blasts had gone through the entrance and had erupted against the far wall.

The place was huge. It appeared to have been carved out of the rock formation, leaving the outside a simple shell to protect the interior. And it was cold and damp inside, the heat of the sun never penetrating far within.

The walls were lined with empty, dusty tables and shelves, and rows and rows of machinery were set into the stone walls. Most of the machines appeared to be non-operational, except for an occasional blinking light. This was obviously the source of the power fluctuations that Sam had discovered.

Even as Daniel looked around, he could hear a hum coming from some of the working equipment. Sam was examining everything, slowly making her way to the back of the cave, her flashlight illuminating more of the same. Daniel glanced back towards the cave's opening, noting that a couple of the aliens were peering inside.

"Holy Hannah. Sir, it's a baby!"

"A baby?" Jack quickly brushed by Daniel, who followed on Jack's heels, only to come to a stop at the end of the cave where Carter stood with her hand out to ward them from getting too close. "It's a baby... balloon."

"Careful, sir, there's a force field. The baby moved and I could see it shimmering."

The baby in question was a much smaller version of those outside, maybe eight inches in length. It appeared to be captured in some kind of force field or clear box, so tightly wedged that it was barely able to move. The box the creature was held in was further contained in a larger force field, big enough to hold two grown men comfortably. Daniel could see it shimmer occasionally in the beam of their flashlights.

There was debris all around the baby's prison, twigs and leaves spread out all around. As they watched, one of the creatures flew by Daniel, passed through the containment field in what appeared to be a painful process, and hovered above the baby.

The baby squeaked pitifully, trapped in such a way that it was only able to move its eyes to watch the adult. The parent, or what Daniel assumed was the parent, crooned down to the child. The little one struggled, and there was a flux of energy which discharged all around the adult. It squealed, but remained there until the baby calmed.

"Oh God, Jack, we have to help it." Daniel turned to his friend. Jack had a grim look on his face while he pointed to the machinery behind him.

"Carter?"

Sam quickly left the containment field and went over to look at the equipment. "I don't know, sir. It almost looks Asgard. It'll take me a while to study it."

Jack reached out a hand and touched the shimmering field. Sparks erupted and Jack yelled out in pain.

"I'm fine," he growled in answer to his teammates' concerned queries. He shook his hand then opened and closed it quickly several times. "Pins and needles," he complained as he moved off to watch Sam work.

Ignoring Jack and knowing there wasn't much he could do to help Sam at the moment, Daniel knelt to get a better look at the baby, getting as close as he could to the force field.

"The infant creature appears to have been a prisoner for a lengthy period." Teal'c knelt beside Daniel, and waved to the debris on the ground beside it. "See how it has grown into the edges of its prison?"

Daniel looked at what Teal'c was pointing at and realized that the baby was so compressed that it was molded to the small rectangular box.

"If these creatures can pass through that force field, then maybe the baby entered it by accident. Once trapped, it was probably too weak to come back out."

"I believe that the adults have been providing it nourishment."

Again, Daniel looked down and saw leaves and twigs in various stages of decomposition. "God, Teal'c. How long do you believe the poor thing been caught in there?"

"From the amount of decay, I would estimate quite some time."

"Damn."

Daniel felt an insistent push against his arm and turned to see one of the creatures floating beside him. It lowered itself to the ground, staring at the captured baby, then lifted its head, nudging Daniel's hand.

Daniel caressed the creature instinctively, like he would a dog or a cat. It wasn't until his fingers came to the small scar did he realize it was the same being that he had approached outside.

"It'll be fine. We'll get him out of there," Daniel said softly to the creature.

- - - - - -

As much as Jack hated dealing with the unknown, there was no way he was gonna leave that little thing stuck in that containment field, if he was able to do something about it. It was strange how these aliens looked so... alien, and were able to project such caring and worry for the little one.

He stuck his head outside the cave to go speak to Teal'c, who he'd placed on sentry duty. There had been no signs of civilization on this planet to speak of, but heck, someone had built this lab at one time, hadn't they? He stopped short when he saw that the handful of balloon creatures had tripled since he'd been inside.

"Everything quiet out here?"

"Indeed. Many of the creatures have amassed, but they appear to be peaceful."

"Maybe they know we're trying to help the kid."

"It is a possibility. We do not know how intelligent these creatures are."

"Yeah." Anything was possible. There had been those beings of light that had befriended Daniel on the one planet... who'd have thought?

"Colonel? I think I know how to free the baby!" Jack turned back to the cave, then motioned to Teal'c to follow him when she instructed them that she'd need both their help. He was surprised to see that the place was now well lit.

"More than half the systems aren't working, so I needed to reroute a few power lines. I'll need you here, sir," she pointed Jack to a console that had several crystals on it, only two of which were lit. "Teal'c, I need you here." She pointed to another console to Jack's right, also with two lit crystals. "These consoles work in tandem with the ones Daniel and I will be working from over there." She pointed to where Daniel was standing, just to the side of the captive baby.

"Daniel and I will manually lower the shields and I'll pull the baby out. I need you two to move this crystal upwards." She touched the aqua coloured ones on both panels. "And I need you to move this one sideways." She touched the orange ones. "You'll need to do this slowly, and match your movements precisely, if you're off by too much, it'll overload, and could kill the baby."

"How slow is slow?" Jack asked. He and Teal'c both watched as she demonstrated. "Okay," he said after a moment.

"Now, when you reach these positions," she said, pointing to two pieces of tape crisscrossed on the panels into an X, you need to hold the crystals down and apply pressure. That'll keep the field off once Daniel and I bring it down. If you let go, it'll start up again, and possibly trapping me inside of it."

"Okay, I understand."

"Daniel, are you ready?"

"Ready."

Both Carter and Daniel took positions on one side of the containment field, and on Carter's mark, Jack began moving the two crystals, keeping an eye on Teal'c's panel in order to stay in sync. Several of the aliens hovered around them, and one came down close to Jack's hands, obscuring his view. He'd have liked to wave the creature away, but couldn't let go of his crystals to do so. Ignoring it, he brought the crystals to the marked spots, pressed down on them and turned to look back at Carter.

"It's not working," she said as she strode back towards Jack. He let go while she sat on the ground and opened a section near the bottom and fiddled with stuff inside of it. Jack wrapped his hands under his armpits. The cave was damp and the chill was beginning to permeate through his clothes. He went to stand beside Daniel, noting that several of the alien creatures were hovering close to the panel Daniel and Carter had been working with.

"Okay, let's try this again," Carter said as she closed up the opened section. She repositioned the crystals on the consoles and returned to her own.

This time, Jack could hear a different pitch in the thrum of machinery as he moved the crystals. They began to blink on and off, the cadence increasing as he brought them closer to the marked spots. At the proper time, Teal'c nodded and he pressed down. The lights in the room dimmed noticeably.

"Okay, now!" Jack yelled.

Jack turned and saw Carter move to the edge of the containment field. The shimmer was gone but when she put her hand through, it glistened faintly around it. She pulled her hand back quickly, then looked at Daniel, who had one hand on his console and one on Carter's. Obviously he was holding the crystals down like Jack was.

"The force field's not completely turned off, but I should be okay. I can do this. I'll have to move quickly, though. Just nobody let go of their crystals."

In one swift move, she entered the field and knelt before the box in which the baby alien was confined it. One of the aliens floated right behind her to see what she was doing.

"Sam, you okay?" Daniel's voice sounded worried and Jack could see that the glimmer had turned to loud, crackling sparks sputtering around her body.

"I'm okay. The baby's really wedged in here, I'm having trouble getting him out of it." Her voice was rough, and Jack knew from experience that she was experiencing discomfort, if not pain.

"Carter, can you pull the box itself out of there?"

"No, it's... agh! Stuck to the ground."

"Carter!"

"I'm okay, it just... shit, stings."

Two more of the floating aliens had moved into the containment field and the area around Carter flared brightly.

"Damnit!" she cried. Jack could hear her breathing loudly.

"Sam, get out of there."

"I've almost got him. Almost... Geez, it's okay, stop struggling. Daniel, I can't hold onto him..."

A fourth alien floated into the area and suddenly the whole thing erupted in light. Jack closed his eyes and averted his face, but when he looked back, he could see Carter was lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Sam!"

Before Jack could react, Daniel let go of the crystals and rushed to grab Carter's foot, which was lying outside the force field area.

"Daniel! Don't!" Jack yelled, remembering Carter's warning not to let go of their crystals. He saw Daniel jerk violently as he grabbed Carter's boot and fall heavily on top of her still form.

Jack turned to look at Teal'c, looked at his console, then at his two fallen team members.

"Damnit!" He hated feeling helpless and he had no choice but to abandon his console and try and pull his people out. The second he let go of the crystals, the power came back up and the lights got brighter.

Teal'c was half a step behind him as they rushed towards their friends. He knelt beside Daniel, who was half in and half out of the force field. Knowing what had just befallen Daniel, he didn't touch him. If there was a current of energy flowing through his teammates, it needed to be turned off before he could touch either one of them, or suffer the same fate.

He could see Daniel's face, it was pale and beaded with sweat. He was breathing, that much Jack could tell, but the inhalations appeared strained and harsh. Carter was faring even worse, with Daniel's full weight on top of her. The baby was curled up in the crook of her arm. It was moving feebly. At least she had gotten it out of its cage, but it was so deformed that it looked like a parody of the adults, all angles and bumps as opposed to their smooth surfaces.

The creatures that had entered through the force field had been thrown clear. Two were lying on the floor and had they been human, they'd probably be sitting up shaking their heads dazedly. The other two were hovering a few inches off the ground near Jack's feet. He wasn't sure, but he thought they looked much paler now in comparison to their brethren.

Jack tore his jacket off, intending to try and grab Daniel's leg with it and pull him out, but the second it brushed Daniel's pant leg, Jack experienced a shock that numbed his arm right up to his elbow.

He dropped the jacket out of reflex and jerked himself backwards. He landed jarringly on his ass.

"Damnit!" He shook his hand, which was now tingling painfully.

"We must attempt to turn the barrier off once more." Teal'c placed a supportive hand beneath Jack's shoulder and pulled him into a seated position.

"We can't. We can't hold those crystals down *and* get them out at the same time."

"Perhaps we can find something to weigh the crystals down. Something with considerable weight, like a rock."

"Yeah, that might work. Can't be too heavy because it'll crush the crystals, but—"

Jack suddenly realized that the lights were dimming and the hum had gotten fainter. He turned around and was shocked to see four of the aliens lying on the consoles, pushing at the crystals with their snouts and bodies.

"What the hell?" He scrambled to his feet to wave them away when he realized that they were moving the crystals in exactly the right sequences. They couldn't have understood Carter's instructions, could they? Then again, he had no idea how truly intelligent they were. Maybe they were simply mimicking Jack and Teal'c's earlier moves but in order to be doing so *now*, they had to have understood the meaning of the actions.

When he spotted movement to his left, he was sure they did understand when two more flying aliens moved to the panels Daniel had been manning. He saw them press down with their bodies and the barrier suddenly winked out.

"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled at Teal'c as he made a dive towards Daniel. Hoping that the beings were intelligent enough to have gotten everything right, he grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him off of Carter. As he dragged his friend to safety, he saw Teal'c gently pick the baby alien up and place him out of the way on Jack's discarded jacket. Two seconds later, Carter was in Teal'c's arms and he caught up to Jack as he was dragging Daniel out of the damp cave.

They put their fallen comrades down away from the cave's entrance, where they had some shelter from the cold evening wind. It was cold outside, but at least not as damp as inside the cave. Quickly they examined their friends. Both had extremely fast pulses, their breathing was laboured and shallow, their breaths hardly showing up in the cold air, and their skin was chilled and clammy to the touch. They needed to be warmed up, and fast.

Jack dashed back inside for their packs and saw a blur of bodies where Teal'c had put the baby down. He felt a little guilty as he took the packs back outside.

"Here," he said as he handed two sleeping bags to Teal'c. "I'll be right back."

He returned to the cave and carefully threaded his way through the milling aliens. The baby was trying to move at the urgings of the adults, but it was either too weak or too injured to do so. Slowly and gently so as not to alarm them, he stepped through the mass until he could kneel down. He reached over and wrapped the jacket around the baby and picked it up. He carried it outside, accompanied by the surrounding mob.

He looked around for a safe spot to put it down, barely noting an incredibly colourful sunset as he did so. One of the aliens bumped his shoulder. It flew towards a small hole in the rock, and hovered beside it.

Jack hurried over and looked inside. It wasn't much more than a depression in the rock, but large enough to hold one or two of the aliens. He carefully put his burden down, making a nest of the jacket. The second he moved back, one of the creatures went inside and curled around the baby. Two others joined it, while the others flew or crawled about.

When he rejoined Teal'c, both Carter and Daniel had been turned onto their sides and wrapped in their sleeping bags. Teal'c straightened from his kneeling position and turned to look at Jack, his hand holding the edge of the sleeping bag close to Carter's chin. All of them looked strange in the reddish hue of the setting sun.

"I have done all that I could, but they require immediate medical assistance."

"I know." And he knew that the Stargate was a good several hours away, and the sun was setting fast.

"They are hypothermic. They require warmth. We must start a fire and attempt to raise their body temperatures."

Without a word, Jack set off to gather wood, although there weren't any trees nearby except for a few shrubs. He found several twigs and a bit of deadwood, but not enough to sustain a fire throughout the night.

"If I leave now, I can return with help by daylight."

Jack looked at the colourful sky, wishing this was just a normal evening and SG-1 was sitting around their camp, enjoying the view. But instead, he had two team members down, fighting for their lives.

"You know as well as I do that the going is rough and treacherous between here and the 'gate. It's too dangerous. The sky's clouding over and there won't be any stars or moons to light your way."

"It is an acceptable hazard."

True. It was, and Jack himself would take it if that had been the most obvious decision to make. But it wasn't. They needed to get Carter and Daniel stabilized first before going for help.

"I need you here to help keep them warm."

"One of us must return to the SGC."

Jack knelt and snaked a hand into the sleeping bag and felt Daniel's skin. It was cold. Too cold for simple shock. It was if that energy barrier had sucked the heat and life right out of his comrades.

"They won't make it through the night without help." Jack threw the bits of wood he'd been holding in his other hand down in disgust. "This won't help. We need to share body warmth." Teal'c stared at him, and Jack could see the tension in the big man's body as he warred with the urge of running back to get medical aid. Jack knew how he felt and was experiencing the same helplessness.

"I'll take Daniel, you take Carter."

It would have been a cold night for them to get through even under normal circumstances without a fire, and if only one of the two had been injured, he'd have had no qualms about letting Teal'c go for help. But there was no way he'd be able to help both of them by himself - not without a hot fire burning throughout the night.

Decision made, Jack grabbed his sleeping bag, unzipped Daniel's and slid in behind him. He shifted around until he was pressed against as much of Daniel's body as possible, then pulled the second sleeping bag over them both. He could hear rustling sounds as Teal'c did the same with Carter.

Daniel was like an ice cube, his body chilled enough that the cold permeated through Jack. The slight puffing sounds he made as he gasped for air were worrisome. Jack raised the edge of the sleeping bag over Daniel's face, hoping to warm the air that Daniel was inhaling.

He jumped and nearly yelled when something nudged his back. Moving quickly he turned to see one of the aliens trying to prod the edge of the sleeping bag open. Jack waved it away.

"Hey. No. Get out of there."

The flying alien gave a squeak and moved around him and damned if he wasn't trying to find a way inside from Daniel's end.

"Go on, get away." He stuck an arm out and gently but firmly, pushed it aside.

"O'Neill. The creatures' body temperatures are higher than ours. Allow it to enter, they will aid in warming up DanielJackson."

Jack raised his head and saw in the fading light that three of the aliens were wending their way into Teal'c and Carter's sleeping bags.

Reluctantly, Jack raised the edge and it didn't take the creature long to make its way inside. It scampered over Jack's side and curled up against Daniel's chest and neck. It stared at Jack, blinking slowly before it buried its head beneath Daniel's chin. Two others quickly followed, one heading for Daniel's legs and the other nestling against the small of Jack's back.

Teal'c was right, they were like little furnaces.

"You better not be carrying fleas," Jack grumbled as two more snuck in.

Jack soon felt the first small shiver as Daniel's body began to warm up. The shuddering increased in strength until finally Daniel's teeth were chattering and his breathing began to catch. Jack brought his arm around Daniel's chest and held him tightly against him, feeling his friend's body jerk as it worked overtime in trying to raise its core temperature.

He spoke softly in case Daniel was able to hear him. He could hear Teal'c doing the same with Carter. His hand came into contact with the alien that was curled up near Daniel's face and it butted his fingers. He petted it with his index finger and it bumped him more insistently.

It was a soothing gesture, like fondling a pet cat or dog. As he explored he was surprised to find a small scar several inches from its snout. "Had a little accident, didja?" Jack asked the creature.

In reply it shifted and offered the other side of its neck for equal attention.

- - - - - -

"O'Neill."

Jack jerked awake; the warmth generated by the aliens had finally lulled him to sleep in the early morning hours. He was at once embarrassed for having fallen asleep and at the same time worried that Daniel had taken a turn for the worse.

"Daniel? Carter?" he said softly, noting the body lying against him was still once again. He placed a hand against Daniel's chest, then swore when he realized he couldn't make out the skin temperature through his clothes. He pulled Daniel's tee shirt out of the back of his pants and placed a hand against his warm skin.

Warm. Not cold. Thank God.

"His body temperature is close to normal. As is MajorCarter's."

Teal'c moved from where he knelt beside him and Jack could see the sky was brightening as the sun was preparing to rise.

"I will leave now for the Stargate. I shall attempt to remain in radio contact every thirty minutes for as long as possible."

Jack carefully sat up, trying to keep Daniel covered as much as he could. As he slid out of the sleeping bags, the aliens stirred, then readjusted themselves in the space he left behind. He noted both Daniel and Carter were breathing more easily, although both were still unconscious.

"Hurry back," Jack simply said. Teal'c nodded, setting off at a fast jog. Jack knew Teal'c's endurance, he could probably keep the pace until he reached the 'gate, but the terrain wouldn't permit it. Still, it had taken them four hours to get here from their last camp site, hopefully Teal'c could shave some time off of that.

He got up, stiff from lying in one position the whole night long. He checked on Carter to assure himself she was doing okay also, then got up and moved a ways to empty his bladder. He stretched, trying to ease the kinks from his back and legs. It was going to be a long day.

He sat down close to where he could keep an eye on his teammates, and grabbed an MRE. By the time he finished eating, the sun was high enough for Jack to feel its heat. Soon after, the aliens came out from the sleeping bags, floating lazily. One opened its mouth and yawned, its blue tongue sticking out between its teeth.

One by one, they all took off and flew to the north, where he could see a copse of small trees in the distance. He figured they were off to eat breakfast. He wondered if that small copse of trees might have provided firewood if he'd known about it last night.

Taking advantage of their absence, Jack decided to shift Carter and Daniel onto their other sides. If he was stiff, they surely would be too if they woke up. He worked on Carter and once she was settled, he slapped her face gently, calling her name, hoping to elicit a response from her. Hating to do it, he pinched the underside of her upper arm, but she didn't react to the pain. He made sure she was comfortable and then did the same with Daniel, with the same non-reaction.

He tried placing a bit of water on Daniel's lips, hoping to at least get some liquids into his friend, but the water simply dribbled down his chin.

Feeling helpless, Jack paced the area. He popped into the cave to make sure they had left none of their gear there, then went back outside. He stopped off at the small hole in the stone, checking on the baby. One of the adults was wrapped around the infant, and both were chewing on a small branch, eating both bark and leaves. The baby raised its head and looked at Jack, chewing noisily.

"Got room service, didja?" Jack said as he bent down to pick up part of a branch that had fallen to the ground. He offered it to the baby, who happily began chewing on the tender tip. The adult butted Jack's hand, demanding to be petted. Jack alternated stroking the two, then moved aside as one of the other adults arrived, carrying more food.

As it turned and settled in the small nook with the others, Jack returned to his friends. He found one of the aliens curled up at Daniel's feet, twigs and leaves spread over the sleeping bag.

"You guys always this messy eating?" Jack threw a few twigs near its head and it happily chomped on those. He sat down beside it and helped feed it its breakfast. After a while, he felt movement against his butt. Even though the morning was sunny and the air was warming up nicely, Jack realized that Daniel was shivering again. He quickly checked on Carter and found her condition to be the same.

"Come on, you two, gimme a break." Maybe if he pulled the two sleeping bags together, Carter and Daniel could help keep each other warm through their own body heat? But before he could try his idea, the creature lying at Daniel's feet crawled inside the bag and curled up by Daniel's neck. As if that was a sign to the others, soon the sleeping bags were a mound of moving, shifting lumps. Within a minute, they had all settled down.

Jack didn't know if they had known that Carter and Daniel required heat in order to survive, or if they just liked the nice, cozy niches they had found. Jack reached a hand to pet the one whose head was peeking out of the sleeping bag near Daniel's face and wasn't surprised to find the scar on its neck.

A shadow swooped by and Jack looked up. Hundreds of the creatures were flying overhead, circling the camp. Many came down to have a closer look, and Jack could see several infants in the flock. One young one actually flew into the cave, and before Jack could shout or run after it, one of the adults flew inside. It literally chased the baby out, and Jack couldn't help but smile at the small scolding noises the adult was making. After a short while, the majority of the flock seemed to have satisfied their curiosity and left, with about two dozen remaining behind. He wondered if they were the same ones that had been there keeping them company throughout the night. Maybe they were a family of sorts.

The morning passed by slowly and soon Teal'c was out of radio range. Jack was getting more worried about Carter and Daniel as neither had stirred in the least, and neither had had any kind of sustenance in close to twenty four hours. Maybe he'd made the wrong call, maybe he should have attempted to try and get them back to the SGC himself instead of waiting for aid to come to them. But no, there was really no feasible way to do this, unless he and Teal'c dragged them in the sleeping bags and the ground was just too rough between here and the 'gate.

At noontime, he shared a power bar with a curious alien, laughing when the creature spit out the tidbit Jack had offered it.

"I feel the same way," Jack said as he bit into more of the calorie-ridden meal. "But food's food," he said with his mouth full, "and I'll take this stuff over the sushi that Carter likes. I mean, raw fish is raw fish, no matter what you call it."

He fiddled with the wrapper, feeling idiotic talking to some alien animal. But hearing the sound of his voice helped alleviate the worry just a little bit. It investigated some leaf scraps, and carried over a couple in its mouth before settling down to eat beside Jack.

"Daniel here will eat just about anything you put in front of him. Hell, he'll eat a baked lizard without batting an eyelash." The alien looked up at Jack, swallowed, and took another leaf. "Honest, I saw him myself. Me, on the other hand, like my food tried and true. Give me a steak anytime. Baked potato, small salad – and none of the stuff you're eating, mind you – too much roughage and I'm trying to cut back on bark. Oh, and add a cold brewskie to that and I'm in heaven. Dessert, on the other hand, so long as it's sweet, I'll try it. Never thought I'd eat that sweet almond and pastry concoction again, not after that stint in... but anyway, Daniel loves the stuff so I'll tolerate buying him some whenever he comes over to visit. And we won't even mention chocolate..."

Jack finished his meal and dumped the wrapper into his packsack. He sighed heavily. He felt so helpless. There was just so little he could do for his friends that—

"Colonel O'Neill, come in."

"Ferretti? Good to hear your voice." Jack felt some of the tension leach out of his shoulders upon hearing a familiar voice coming through his radio.

"Same here, Jack. Listen, we're less than two hours away from your position. I've also got SGs 7 and 14 with me, along with Doctor Fraiser and a medic."

"Two hours? Lou, you taking a short cut or something?"

Jack could hear the laughter in the Major's voice. "Well, actually, yes. While we were gearing up, Teal'c took another look at the readings from the UAV and found a better way around."

And that made sense, since they'd first headed for some weird rock formations that Daniel had wanted to explore and so had probably ended up taking the long and hard way across. The rocks had been a bust, but that was when Carter had first gotten that strange energy spike and...

"Colonel?"

"Yeah, doc."

"How are they doing?"

"No change. They're still both unconscious, and unresponsive. They're having trouble keeping their body temperatures up, they keep getting chilled."

"Sir, it's important you keep them warm." Jack could hear the slight breathlessness of her words and could picture her trying to keep up with the rest of her somewhat long-legged companions.

"Got that covered," he said as he glanced towards the lumpy sleeping bags.

"Good. Just keep them comfortable. We'll be there soon."

"Ain't going nowhere." He put the radio back into his vest and suddenly, knowing that help was close, he was imbued with nervous energy. He scrambled to his feet and began pacing restlessly.

He found himself back inside the cave, wondering what the place had been used for. If he were to hazard a guess, he'd say it had been some kind of lab. Why else would there have been varying sized force fields? But why had it been abandoned, and why had the force field been left on? Then again, the Goa'uld could have made this their home for a while, using the Asgard technology for their own use. If this even was Asgard stuff.

Maybe the Goa'uld had been lured here by the energy readings, as SG1 had been. The containment field couldn't have been created for capturing the floating aliens, since they seemed to have the ability to fly in and out of the fields. Unless... someone had been studying the aliens and their ability to do so... and gee, maybe the snakeheads had decided to do the same.

If that was the case, the SGC definitely needed to take their turn scrutinizing the stuff left behind, and the critters' strange ability. If the Goa'uld had figured out their secrets, then they might have a tactical advantage over Earth and their allies. If not, then the Tau'ri could maybe be one up over the Goa'uld.

He left the cave, satisfied that he had a plausible answer to the mysteries of this place, and went to visit mother and baby. He peered inside and found them to be sleeping soundly. He smiled at the sight, and wondered if these creatures spent most of their time napping.

Time passed doubly slow as he waited for the rescue team. He constantly checked on Carter and Daniel, afraid that with help so close, they would decide now to take a turn for the worse. He had to force himself to sit down and patiently wait.

Finally he got the call that the others were close by. A few minutes later, they came into view as they rounded the rocks.

Fraiser went straight to Daniel and before Jack could warn her, she pulled the sleeping bag open and almost jumped into Jack's arms in fright.

"What the hell are those things!" she exclaimed as one of the creatures raised its head and yawned up at her.

"Daniel's own personal heating pad. Don't worry, doc, they're harmless."

She glanced at Jack incredulously before carefully reaching for Daniel's arm. He helped her clear a space so she could take his vitals. Teal'c was doing the same with the medic who was checking on Carter.

"His blood pressure's low, pulse is fast and thready, temperature is 97.2." She placed an oxygen mask over his face and began prepping him for an IV. The medic reported similar numbers to Fraiser, and within minutes, Jack was easing the aliens off of Daniel so that Teal'c and Fraiser could wrap him in several blankets and place him on a stretcher.

He then went to help Ferretti clear the aliens off of Carter. They floated in the air, curious as to what was going on. It was only when a couple of them entered the cave did Jack realize that SG14 was missing.

He got up and followed the aliens inside, noting that there was a hell of a lot of gear sitting inside the door, more than was required for a simple rescue operation.

"Something you forgot to tell me?" Jack asked Major Santini. The blond man turned to Jack and smiled. "General Hammond ordered my team to see if we could figure out what the technology was all about. Teal'c's descriptions of the force fields sparked a bit of interest at the SGC."

Knowing time was short, Jack related his suspicions about the place, and gave the man a warning not to harm the aliens. "They trust us, and saved both Major Carter and Doctor Jackson's lives. Don't go rewarding them with anything that'll hurt them."

"Of course not, Colonel." Santini nodded, a solemn expression on his face. "We'll be careful, I promise."

"Colonel!" Ferretti's voice echoed faintly in the cavern. "We're about ready to leave."

"You do that," he told Santini. Turning, he hurried out of the cave to rejoin the others. As he walked into the daylight, he wasn't surprised to see Teal'c standing by the hole in the wall. Teal'c turned and joined Jack as he waited for him.

"The little one appears to be gaining strength."

"Yeah, I think he'll be all right."

"They are a pleasant sort of creature."

Jack thought back to the way they craved attention, like a dog. But at the same time, there appeared to be more intelligence behind their eyes, as if their lazy demeanour was just an act. "They do kinda grow on you."

Jack couldn't help but smile when he spotted one of the creatures curled up at Daniel's feet on the stretcher.

"We can't get it to leave," Fraiser said, waving towards it. Jack knelt beside it and stroked its head, feeling the small scar.

"Leave it for now. Scar's adopted Daniel, and it's barely left his side since... the accident."

They picked up the ends of the stretchers and between the two teams, slowly made their way back to the 'gate. They stopped often to check on the two patients, and although they never woke, their breathing seemed to have improved greatly thanks to the oxygen being administered.

By the time they reached the Stargate, the little critter had moved up from Daniel's feet and was now curled around his head and neck. Jack had watched it as it had settled itself and it was being extremely cautious not to disturb the oxygen mask. He continued to suspect they had a much higher intelligence than they let on.

While one of Ferretti's men dialled Earth's address, Jack gently eased the alien from Daniel's stretcher. He placed it on the ground, off to the side.

"This is where you get off," he told it as he scratched its head. He turned and watched as both Carter and Daniel were carried towards the wormhole. He felt the small body beneath his hand move and he held onto it, keeping it on the ground.

"No, you have to stay." He put an index finger in front of its face, forcing it to look at him. "You have to stay here." It gave a small pitiful squeak as Daniel was conveyed through the wormhole, and Jack could have sworn he heard it sigh. As the men followed through behind Carter's litter, Jack got up and joined them. He and Teal'c were the last ones through.

He entered the Gateroom just in time to see the medical personnel rush his friends out of the room. He walked down the ramp, towards General Hammond, when suddenly all hell broke loose as something flew by him from behind.

"Don't shoot!" Jack cried as he spotted the form circling the room. Too late, bullets flew and Scar screamed in pain as at least one projectile hit him. "Shut the door!" Jack pushed the SF aside, ignoring his cries of apology as he ran towards the injured alien. Obviously confused and in pain, it dove through the closing door and out into the corridor.

"Damn it." He made to rush out after it when he heard General Hammond's voice call his name.

"Colonel O'Neill, what the hell was that thing?"

"It is a harmless inhabitant that has apparently become attached to DanielJackson," Teal'c explained.

"Sir, I'd like to—" Jack waved a hand towards the door and Hammond nodded. He rushed out, ordering several guards to help him search.

- - - - - -

Hours. They'd literally spent the whole night searching for that alien critter and there was no sign of it anywhere. He hoped to God it hadn't crawled into a hole somewhere to die. He had no idea how badly hurt it was. Damn, but he felt bad.

They'd called off the active search but all personnel had been alerted to its presence and ordered to keep an eye out for it.

Jack turned the water off and stepped away from the shower. He was exhausted, hungry and worried about Carter and Daniel. He'd just finished debriefing Hammond and was now heading to the infirmary for a very tardy physical. Afterwards, his plans were to sit with his teammates for a bit, and then go bunk down somewhere for a few hours' of shut eye.

He quickly dried himself off and got dressed. As he walked to the infirmary area, he kept glancing towards possible hiding spaces, hoping to catch a glimpse of Scar, even though the Gateroom wasn't on the same level as the infirmary. But if the alien was intelligent enough to make sense of, or mimic, the use of advanced technology, it surely could have figured out what an elevator was for.

Carter and Daniel were the only patients in the infirmary at the moment and he walked towards their beds.

"Good morning, Colonel," a nurse said as she passed him. "Doctor Fraiser has been waiting for you."

"Morning. I was just going to..." Jack stopped and stared towards where his friends lay, then figured maybe he should get the onerous part of the visit out of the way first.

"How are they doing?" He pointed towards the beds with his chin.

"They're much stronger, sir. Their vital signs have all returned close to normal, except for their core temperatures. They're still in a coma; Doctor Fraiser suspects they've suffered some sort of neural shock, but she's hopeful that they'll start waking up soon."

He thanked her and turned towards where Fraiser was talking to another nurse. He had only taken a couple of steps when he heard a shriek and a loud hissing sound.

The nurse he'd just spoken to was backing away from Daniel's bed, and lo and behold, there was Scar, curled up on Daniel's chest. He hurried to her and pulled her back by the arm.

"Hey, calm down," Jack said to Scar as he slowly approached the bed. The being hissed at him also, moving slightly closer to Daniel's face, as if he was trying to protect him from Jack. There was an angry looking wound near the alien's backend, but from what Jack could see, he'd only been nicked. It wasn't bleeding, and unless it got infected, it didn't look life threatening.

He pulled one of the chairs closer to him and sat down. He heard Fraiser's footsteps and he called out to her to keep her distance.

"Look," he told Scar in a gentle voice, "I know it's a big scary place, with loud noises and people that hurt you. But it was an accident. You spooked the guard, and he shot you out of reflex." Jack edged the chair closer with his feet. "Now, you gonna let us have a look at that wound of yours?"

He put out a hand, offering Scar his fingers. It looked at Jack's hand, then back up at Jack, then slowly inched forward and butted its head against his fingers. Jack scratched the soft head, and Scar slowly relaxed.

"Doc, can you come here and take a look at his wound?"

Fraiser slowly approached the bed, then sat down on the mattress beside Daniel. "It's not infected," she said after a moment, "but I'm not even sure we should treat it. I have no idea how its physiology would react to any of our medicine."

"How about just disinfecting it as a precaution? Here, give me the stuff and I'll do it."

Jack took the pads Fraiser brought him and eased closer to the bed. He tore open one of the disinfectant-laden gauzes and held it close to Scar's face. It sniffed at the wet piece of material, then pulled back at the strong smell and sneezed.

Jack slowly rubbed the pad on the back of his hand to show what he intended to do with it, then opened another and gently wiped the area around the wound.

"It's gonna sting a bit, but it's for your own good."

Scar hissed as the disinfectant hit the open wound, but didn't pull away. It continued complaining while Jack worked, but allowed him to continue nevertheless.

Finally finished, Jack scratched the small head and placed a bandage over the wound. Scar sniffed at the bandage, looked at Jack, and promptly pulled it off with its teeth.

"Okay, fine, have it your way," Jack said with a smile. While Fraiser disposed of the soiled implements, Jack got up and poured some water into an emesis basin. Scar sniffed the liquid and delicately lapped it up. When it finished, it curled up with its head on the pillow beside Daniel.

"Ya gotta be hungry..." Jack put the basin down and reached for Scar...

- - - - - -

"The things I put up with for your friend," Jack complained to the milling aliens as he carried an overflowing armful of leaves back to the DHD. He scattered a few away from the Stargate and once the curious aliens began eating, he entered Earth's coordinates into the DHD. IDC sent, he quickly ran for the wormhole, Scar's dinner in hand.

- - - - - -

"Colonel, I must protest." Fraiser stood with her hands on her hips, eying the twigs and bits of leaves that had fallen onto the floor around the infirmary bed. "This *is* an infirmary and not a zoo."

"Sorry, doc." Jack quickly swept up the errant pieces of bark and wood into a small pile with his foot. "I did try to make him eat over in the corner but he kept bringing his meal over to the bed. He just doesn't want to leave Daniel."

"Then maybe you can try feeding him in another room. Having that creature here in the ward is unsanitary of itself, but enough is enough."

"Look, Teal'c and I both tried to bring it back to the Stargate and it managed to slip out of our grasp every time. I don't want to use force, I'm afraid we'll hurt it and I certainly don't want to zat it. It's not hurting anyone and as to the mess, we'll clean it up." Jack turned to look at Teal'c, waiting for his confirmation, but his friend stared straight ahead, ignoring the conversation.

"Okay, fine, I'll clean it up. I promise," he added when Fraiser opened her mouth to object. "Just as soon as it finishes eating."

"Fine. Just make sure you keep the area clean." As she turned around to leave, she added, "It had better be housebroken, Colonel."

"Oh great. D'ya think Supply might have any litter boxes on hand?"

- - - - - -

"Daniel, can you hear me? Daniel, wake up."

Jack stood at the foot of the bed, keeping a hand on Scar so he wouldn't get in the way of the medical personnel, and was clenching his teeth as they waited for a response from Daniel. He was hooked up to an EEG, and as Jack watched, the small 'slowing' waves, as Fraiser had called them, suddenly spiked into a different form.

"That's not right," Fraiser mumbled to herself. Leaning over Daniel, she gently slapped his cheek and called his name again. The EEG continued to spike erratically, but the dismal consensus seemed to be that Daniel wasn't reacting to stimulus.

Fraiser rubbed her knuckles against his chest and then waited. A spike appeared long after she'd pulled away. "Forty-five seconds, that's abnormal." She noted something in Daniel's chart.

She turned from Daniel and went to Carter, who had been similarly hooked up. Jack remained standing where he was and watched as Fraiser went through the same procedure with the Major, and got the same results. Finally she snapped the EEG monitors off and asked a nurse to disconnect the patients. She turned to face Jack again.

"I don't know, Colonel. I'd like to say that they're reacting to stimuli, but I've never seen, let alone heard, of such a thing. Their earlier EEG showed no reaction at all so yes, it's a definite change, but as to whether it's an improvement, I couldn't say at this point."

"So, what, we wait?"

"There's nothing else to be done, sir. I've run all the tests I could think of and there's nothing more I can do for them."

Jack waited until the nurse had finished, then let go of Scar. It scampered as quickly as it could to Daniel's side, curling up again on the pillow where it had kept vigil all this time.

Its injury seemed to hamper its flying ability. It could fly but would only do so for small distances, preferring to run on the ground if forced off the bed. Like when it had to use the small litter box that Ferretti had gone out to get at Jack's behest. Thank goodness it had the intelligence to use the box; that in itself had returned it into Fraiser's good graces.

Jack moved over to stand between the two beds. He was exhausted, having spent the day in meetings and then going over tons of paperwork. He hated the thought of driving home, but he desperately needed sleep.

"Good night, kids. I'll be back in the morning. Scar," he added, reaching over to scratch the sleepy alien, "watch over them, will you? Teal'c will be along later to keep you company."

With a last glance at his teammates, Jack left the infirmary and made his way home.

- - - - - -

Sipping a coffee, Jack entered the infirmary, feeling a little better this morning than he had the previous night. He yawned a greeting to one of Fraiser's nurses and swallowed the last of his coffee before discarding the styrofoam cup and approaching the beds. As he neared, Scar raised its head and launched itself off the bed. As it flew towards Jack, it made strange high pitched sounds. It butted his shoulder and flew in a circle around him.

"Hey, I know you're hungry, give me a second to get your breakfast." He remembered belatedly that he'd have to go back to the planet and get more soon, what he had brought was pretty dried out and couldn't be very nourishing.

Scar butted Jack again and rushed to Daniel's bed, eagerly clambering over Daniel to reach the pillow. It butted its head against Daniel's face, then yipped.

"Don't do that," Jack admonished as Scar butted Daniel again. To his surprise, Daniel's leg moved, and his eyelids twitched.

"Doc!" Jack yelled as he grabbed Daniel's hand and squeezed. "Daniel, wake up. Come on, Danny, wake up. Doc!" he yelled again.

He heard Fraiser running towards the bed and arrived just in time to see Daniel frown and move his leg again.

"It was Scar, he knew Daniel was waking up." As she neared, Daniel moaned and turned his head away from him. Jack moved out of the doctor's way and Scar dashed away from the pillow, as if sensing this was an important event. It came to join Jack at the edge of the bed, its attention fixed intently on Daniel.

As Fraiser performed a few tests, Daniel suddenly groaned and jerked away from them, turning onto his side. He tried to pull his arm up over his face, and Jack wondered whether he was in pain.

"Okay, we'll let you rest," Fraiser said softly as she smiled at Jack. She turned to Carter and tried to wake her, but there was no response.

"It's a good sign," she said as they watched as Daniel seemed to be trying to wake up. "Talk to him and let him know you're there."

Jack sat on the side of the bed, and gently eased Daniel's hand down from where it had fallen on the pillow. He held it between his own, then smiled as Scar came and butted the lax fingers.

"Don't'cha think it's about time you woke up? You got a friend that wants to say hello, Daniel. The critter even took a bullet trying to stay by your side, don't you think the least you can do is open your eyes and say hi?"

There was no reaction, and Jack sighed. He shrugged his shoulders at Scar, who had turned to stare at Daniel once more. It whined softly just before Daniel began to twitch again. It looked to Jack like his friend was in pain. His breathing increased and he made small, panting moans, and his face contorted into a slight grimace. The whole episode only lasted a few seconds before he seemed to relax again.

Despite what Fraiser had said, Jack wasn't sure if talking to Daniel was doing much good. He let go of his friend's hand and leaned an elbow on the table, his chin propped on his thumb, with his index and third fingers along his face. Still he continued to talk to Daniel, watching as Daniel's eyes fluttered occasionally, with small jerks and moans of pain.

After about fifteen minutes of this, Scar raised his head and upper body and stared over at Carter. It yipped once, and Jack turned his attention to her. After a time, she reacted similarly to Daniel, eyelids fluttering, small movements of her legs and arms. This time he waved Fraiser over and he watched as the doctor performed the same tests on her.

"The EEG will be more conclusive," she said as she straightened from her examination.

Jack checked his watch and realized he was already late for a meeting with SG8. "I have to go... you'll let me know?"

"Of course, sir."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

- - - - - -

Pain. He could feel it even in the strands of his hair.

Noise. His head and chest throbbed as sound bounced through him.

Light. Searing heat that started from his face down through his toes.

Nausea. So bad he couldn't even swallow his saliva for fear of upchucking.

Disorientation. No up, no down. Nothing familiar, nothing to help ground him.

Cold. Chilled right down to the bone, unable to get warm.

Torture. The noise and light continued without cease. The pain followed him no matter where he turned, how much he pleaded.

Fear. Was he alone? Did anyone even care? There should have been someone... he called out for help, but there was nothing but the pain. He followed it down a long, dark tunnel, praying it would lead him home.

- - - - - -

A blur, movement. He was unable to focus, unable to grasp. The light was still there, but muted now, not as hurtful. He squinted, tried to see, but the noise encompassed him and he moaned in pain.

Something was squeezing his hand in a crushing grip. He tried to pull away but the hold on him was too strong. More agony, more torture, lights, sounds, punches, slaps. Would it ever end? Would there be no rescue? Colors formed in his mind's eye, blond and light, dark and glowering, grey and trusting. Somehow he felt they should be here, or should have come and found him. Succoured him from these... snakes. That's it, snakes. The enemy. Glowing... eyes. Sam. Teal'c. Jack. Where were they?

Abandoned. Left to die. Orphaned. Widowed. Friendless. He moaned again, but this time at the memory of sorrow.

Silence now. Small movement near his ear, rubbing against his neck. Peaceful. Soothing. Caring. Welcomed.

Familiar.

Jack?

He opened his eyes, but the blur and the light caused him more pain. There was sound again. Torture.

Tired. Can't stay awake. Soothing movement again.

ON TO PART TWO

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