Title: Into The Light
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Daniel Jackson, OC.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1092
Spoilers: The Serpent’s Lair.
Summary: Daniel escapes the ship just as it blows up, gating to the only planet whose address he can come up with.
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 436: Sunshine.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Stargate: SG-1, or the characters. They belong to their creators.



It was remarkable what you could accomplish when your own life was at stake, Daniel thought vaguely as he dragged himself along the corridor leaving a trail of blood in his wake, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t run into any serpent guards. Ordinary humans could find themselves capable of extraordinary feats of strength and endurance at the most unexpected times.

He should be dead right now, but instead, here he was, fighting for his life after killing several Jaffa. Which admittedly wasn’t the best feeling, taking someone else’s life wasn’t something he could ever imagine himself growing comfortable with, but it had been them or him, and the basic human survival instinct had taken over.

Besides, it hadn’t merely been his own life at stake, but the other members of his team, and everyone on earth. What were the lives of a few brainwashed warriors compared to an entire planet? He was scholar, not a military man, but he understood that in the battle for his world, lives were going to be lost, and anyway, once the C4 went off, everyone still aboard the ship was going to die. The ones he’d killed had just met their maker a bit sooner than the rest.

All those thoughts rambled barely coherently through his mind as hauled himself inch by painful inch towards the room in which the sarcophagus lay, telling himself this was the hardest part. All he had to do was get there and then things would get easier. That wasn’t quite true; climbing into Klorel’s sarcophagus unassisted was a hundred times more difficult than crawling had been, but there was no way he was giving up, not when he’d already made it that far. So he gathered the last remaining dregs of his strength, pulled himself upright, and all but fell inside, rolling onto his back as the lid closed. And after that…

For a while there was nothing, no sight, no sound, no sensation, no thought, no awareness of the passing of time as the Goa’uld technology healed the damage done by the staff weapon. He came back to himself as the lid opened, and the first thing he noticed was that he felt better than he had in months, rested and completely free of pain. Then he remembered everything that had happened, everything that still might happen, and he scrambled out, hurriedly checking the timer on the C4 he’d attached to the control console and realising how little time there was left before it blew.

As he raced towards the ship’s gate room, his mind scrambled for a gate address he could use. He couldn’t dial earth, not when the ship was already in orbit, but where could he go? There had to be somewhere… Then it came to him: the alternate reality’s beta site. This close to earth he could use his home planet as the point or origin, travel to the other side of the galaxy, and gate home from there. Punching the symbols into the DHD, he plunged through the wormhole as soon as it stabilised, and…

…was instantly dazzled.

For a moment, he thought he must have been caught up in the explosion, the light was so bright, searing his eyes after the dimness inside the Goa’uld ship. Then he blinked his eyes clear and realised he was standing in brilliant sunlight with a clear blue sky overhead, and tension he hadn’t realised he was feeling drained away, leaving him feeling so euphoric he was almost giddy.

As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he became aware of people standing a short distance from the gate staring at him in surprise and, in some cases, alarm. He couldn’t blame them; he knew he must look a sight, smeared with blood and dirt, his clothing scorched, stained and torn, but it made him feel sort of naked, standing practically spotlit by the sun. Even so, he couldn’t keep from closing his eyes for a moment and just basking in the welcome warmth, a smile of relief forming on his face. He’d actually made it! Against all the odds he was alive!

His smile abruptly faded as he thought of his teammates, somewhere on Apophis’ ship, and he pulled himself together; there was so much still at stake. He had no idea if Jack’s plan had succeeded; for all he knew, even now earth might be under attack from the second ship.

“Uh… hi!” He raised his hands, suddenly glad he’d left Jack’s MP5 on the sarcophagus; if he’d shown up armed, he might have been shot on sight.

Someone pushed their way through the crowds. “Doctor Jackson!”

Daniel blinked again, focusing on the man before him, recognising him but unable to fit a name to the face. “Yes, that’s me. Sorry, it’s been a bit…” He waved one hand vaguely. “Look, I have to gate back to earth. Does anyone know what’s happening there?”

“I was hoping you could tell us.”

“I wish I could. Pretty sure the ship I was on blew up, we planted a lot of C4, on everything that would make a big bang when it blew, but the second ship…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“The rest of SG-1?”

“On the other ship. They had a plan, don’t know if it worked.” His heart sank thinking about his friends, who might well have sacrificed themselves to save their world from certain destruction, and here he was, enjoying the sunlight on another planet half the universe away. “I have to…” He pointed back at the gate. “I should report to General Hammond.”

“Yes, of course. Do you have your iris deactivation code?”

Nodding, Daniel unhooked the device from his equipment belt. “Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll dial you up, and Doctor Jackson? Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

As the uniformed man made for the DHD and started dialling, Daniel moved to a safe distance, gazing up at the blue, sunlit sky so much like earth’s.

From a poorly lit alien spaceship to a sunny day, and now back to a concrete bunker far below a mountain, with no idea whether he’d be plunging straight back into a battle for survival. But he had to go, because if he didn’t, how would anyone know what his brave teammates had done? He owed it to them, owed them more than he could ever put into words, and he wasn’t going to let them down. He should have still been up there with them, helping them.

Stepping through, he wondered if he would ever see sunlight again.


The End